


In Blind Eyes

by JadynRosetta



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Big Brother Shiro (Voltron), Blind Keith (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Keith has trust issues, Lance (Voltron) is a Dork, M/M, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Pidge | Katie Holt is a Good Friend, Slow Burn, like really slow burn, other characters are in this, so slow you'll probably kill me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2019-06-23 02:11:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 100,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15595944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadynRosetta/pseuds/JadynRosetta
Summary: You say once you see your soulmate for the first time, you look into their eyes, and the world around you changes and you know you have found the one.  Well how is Keith, a child born blind, supposed to find his soulmate like that?  While others see a grey world, waiting to be full of color, he only sees black.He's fine being alone though, after all, the world is cruel.  And like anyone in this world is destined to be his soulmate.





	1. Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was thought up by palalover on tumblr. I thought it looked interesting so I decided to write it out. I'll still be working on Betrayal but since that one is close to ending I needed another one to write and this popped up. So here ya go, I've never written a soulmate au, so forgive me if I somehow mess up.

Keith really hates his life, no hate is an understatement, he loathes it.  He wishes he was never born. Because in a world where sight is everything he was born with the inability to see.  He concludes that God must hate him or something.

In Keith’s world sight was the only way to find your true love.  See, everything is grey, like Keith knows what grey is, but once you look into your soulmates eyes you’ll see color.  Here’s the problem… how would Keith know who his soulmate is? He can’t see the grey world he lives in now! No matter how many times people try to help him he’ll never know and they won’t understand.

He lives in a dark world, totally black, he thinks it’s black, where no color is ever seen.  He’ll never know the joy of seeing color, but he also misses out on a grey world around him now.  He knows for a fact that if he meets his soulmate they’ll reject him, who wants to be bound by someone as pathetic as him, a pathetic boy who can’t even see?

Even though he feels this way, the thought of someone who will be able to see a new world through his eyes makes him feel giddy.  Knowing someone out there is his partner and maybe, just maybe, they love him. A small part of him can’t wait to meet them, whoever they are.

He broke out of his thoughts when he heard his mom tap the table in front of him.  He was just sitting in their living room, just sitting and thinking. Daydreaming, if you call hearing the dream daydreaming.  His unfocused eyes found her, she rubs his head.

“You ready to go?”

“Do I have to go with you to get groceries?”  He asks. “I’m not much help.”

“Yes, and you are great help.”

“Mommy, I can’t do anything.”

“Who says?”

“The cruel reminder which is reality?”  He points out, she chuckles.

“So much sass for a seven year old.”  She says. “Come on, let’s go.” The child groans, he got up slowly and finds that his white cane fell on the floor, he picks it up.  He taps around and finds the door, his mother behind him and follows him out.

She leads him to the car and helps him in, buckling himself in due to muscle memory.  He hears her get in and start the car up. Feeling it vibrate, hearing the engine roar to life.  And that weird floating feeling comes back when she backs out of their driveway.

Keith never liked cars, or any type of vehicle.  He can’t feel anything around him and it makes him uncomfortable and a little unsafe.  Not that his mom or anyone he knows is a bad driver, it’s just that he rather feel the ground below him.

He hits his cane against his mother’s seat, wondering where they were at the moment.  He groans and leans against the window, feeling the glass press against his head. He feels the car stop after awhile and he slowly climbs out.  His mother walks over and helps him out. He hops down, extending his cane and feeling around.

She walks next to him as they entered the store.  She grabs a cart and looks at her son with a smug smile.

“Wanna ride in the cart?”

“No!”  Keith shouts in embarrassment.  “I’m not a baby.” She laughs while her son follows behind, cane clicking around.  Every once in a while she’d pick up something, and puts it in the cart. Keith would feel what she grabs, wondering what it is.

His mom never seemed to care whenever Keith took something out of the cart just to feel something in his hands.  It’s happened since he learned to walk, just a curious mind. They finished up, paid for everything and walked outside.  His mom looks up.

“Better get home.  Looks like it’s gonna rain.”  She says, then looks at a few teenagers who were hanging around a random car.  “You kids might want to head home, the sky is looking a little grey.”

“Everything looks grey.”  One responds. She nods and leads her son back to the car, he climbs in and rests his head against the window again.  He hears his mom put everything in the car and walks back, starting the car again.

They made it back and Keith helped carry groceries in and putting them somewhere in the living room.  His dad was home and decided to bring the groceries from the living room to the kitchen.

“You know where the kitchen is Keith.”

“I know, I just can’t go so far.”  He says and walks back out. Finally they were finished getting everything in.  His parents were sorting everything in the kitchen, Keith messes with some weird stuffed toy in his hands.  He’s had it since he was born, it feels nice which is why he loves it.

His parents told him it’s the color he always sees so that’s not hard to imagine what it looks like.  Feeling the fluff around its neck and the plastic eyes. He cuddles to it, loving how soft it is, how nice it smells.

He lays back, holding the toy, and looking at the ceiling.  Then he jumps, a siren was going off. He turns his head in the direction of the window near the couch.

“I hear a siren going off.”  He says out loud, loud enough for his parents to hear.  His mother nods.

“Must be a bad storm.”  She says.

“Honey go turn the TV on.”

“Right.”  She walks towards the tv and turns it on to the news.  She turns the volume up and watches. The news anchor spoke about the storm.  A severe tornado warning, possibly f4. The whole family listens closely, it doesn’t sound like it’s gonna pass them.

His parents look at each other and nod.  Just in case, they pick Keith up and brought him to the basement.  Keith doesn’t like going down the basement stairs, there’s no railing and they creek.  He fell the first few times he tried going down, so now he refuses to get close to the basement.  But since it’s dangerous outside they had to carry him down.

His parents left him in the basement alone and went back upstairs to keep checking up on the storm.  Keith opens his cane back up and clicks around, unfamiliar with the basement. Keith hits a washing machine, a dryer, a few things on the ground which might be soap.  Some baskets of clothes.

He heard the siren getting louder, he held his toy close and tried to stay calm.  Storms are scary to hear, he hates them. He went into one room full of clothes and taps around, hitting another basket and a few boxes.  He doesn’t know what’s in them nor does he really care at the moment.

His parents rush down a half an hour later and found Keith sitting down fidgeting with the toy.

“So much for me going shopping!”  He hears his mother hiss. “Keith lower yourself.”  She instructs. Keith sat on the floor, his dad positions him how you protect yourself from the debris.

“Like thi- put the toy down.”  His dad said. Keith pouts and puts the toy down.  His dad puts Keith’s hands over the back of his neck and he crouches down.  The sirens started to be blocked out by another noise. Everyone in the house panics, Keith got up to hear the sound coming closer, it sounded big and awful.

“Keith get down!”  He hears his mother shout.  The house began to shake, Keith can’t seem to balance.  He found his toy and curled up with it, crying as he felt fear.  He didn’t like how the ground was shaking, how everything sounded so close, how he can’t see what is going on.

He felt a strong arm grab him, his mother pulls him into her and covers him up with her body.  It grew louder, Keith screams and cries into knees, not finding comfort in his mother's embrace.  Then everything went blank.

* * *

The light from the midday sun came through the crumbled home.  The locals and other officials of the town pushed debris away and found two bodies.  They checked one, the male was dead, the woman is barely alive. She might not make it from the looks of it.

They saw her move slightly, she looks up at the people with sad purple eyes.  She moved more to show Keith, who was shivering in fear. He heard people coming closer, he hid in his mother’s body.  The locals were surprised he was left without a scratch. His mother protected him from the debris.

One got down and tried leading Keith out, he shook his head.  They held their hand out, Keith didn’t take it, he can’t see it.  They had to get Keith out so they can take his mom to a hospital.

“Hey, kid.  Come on, we have to take your mom to a hospital.”  One man says. He turns his head to the gentle voice, unfocused eyes wide with fear, cheeks drenched with tears.  He was frightened. He grabs his toy and slowly crawls over to the man. He tries to help Keith up but Keith was looking for something else.

He felt for his cane and gasps when he found it.  Picking it up slowly and feeling everything around, everyone just watched as Keith got his barings.  He walks towards where his dad last was. He found him with the cane.

“Daddy?  You can get up now.”  He says. Everyone around him said nothing, they didn’t know what to say to him.  “Mommy?” He waited for a response. His mom smiles, knowing her son won’t see it, and falls over.

Everyone rushes in to help her out, others carry his dad’s body out.

“What’s going on?”  He asks as the random commotion goes on around him.  “Mommy? Daddy?” He asks in fear. “Where are you guys going?”

“Kid come here.”  Someone said, a teenager.  He shook his head.

“Where’s my Mommy and Daddy?  Why won’t they talk to me?” He asks, the teenager sighs.

“I’m sorry, your… oh shit.”  He mumbles, he doesn’t want to break it to the blind kid.  “Your Dad is dead, but your Mom… s-she’ll be fine. She’s going to the hospital.”

“What?”  He asks with tears.  “Mommy! Daddy!” He tried running to them, the teenager grabs him and picks him up.  “No! Mommy! Daddy!” He reaches in thin air, hoping his parents come and get him. He wails, wanting out of the bigger kids grasp.

He started fighting the teenagers grasp.  The teen took Keith to the authorities, they’re taking in kids who are waiting for their parents to get better, or have passed away.

* * *

“Well his mom is in critical condition.”  The doctor said to the woman watching all the kids.  “Her spine broke, I don’t think she’ll live. Even if she did she won’t be able to take care of him anymore.”  He says. Keith plays with his stuffed toy again, curled in a corner. He tried playing with the other kids, but everytime he tried he ‘messed up’ so he decided it’s better to be on his own.

“The poor boy, he needs someone in his life, he can’t do anything on his own.”  She says, looking at Keith. “Take him to foster care?”

“Only place for him.”  They said. “Hopefully he’ll be taken care of.”  The doctor leaves, the lady sighs, slowly approaching Keith.  She got to his level and spoke softly.

“Keith?”  He jumps at the sound of his name.  “We have some bad news.”

“Is Mommy okay?”

“Your Mom is fine.  But… she can’t take care of you anymore.”  She says, Keith gave big eyes and shook his head.

“No!  No Mommy’s fine!”

“I’m sorry Sweetie, I really am.  But you can’t stay here either, we’re taking you to a foster care place, okay?”

“No!  I want my Mommy!”

“Keith please.  Everything will be fine, you’ll see.”

“No!”  He hugged the toy closer and curled up, away from the lady.  She sighs and walks away from him. He has no choice but to go, deep down he even knows that.  He whimpers as he closes himself off from the other kids.

* * *

The foster place wasn’t so different from a normal home, big difference was there were a few kids and some stairs.  Keith walks into the building with a few officers who brought him. He only had his white cane and his toy. The safe house gave him some clothes, they were packed in a backpack that was strapped to his back.

The parents come in and greet him, hearing that they were getting another child.

“Hello Keith.”  The woman says. “My name is Honerva, and this is my husband Zarkon.”  She tells Keith, he nods.

“Hello.”  He says.

“Come on in.”  She gestures inside, the officers nudge Keith, saying it’s okay to move.  He taps his cane around to feel the new area. Both Zarkon and Honerva watch as he walks into the house, tapping the edge of the doorways and enters the living room.  The couple looks back at the officers with concerns. They sighs.

“Yes, he can’t see.”  They said. “His mother’s last wish was that he stays safe.  Can you do that?”

“Of course.”  Zarkon nods. The officers left, the two walk over to Keith who was still getting his bearings.  “Come Keith, let’s take you to your room, do you mind sharing?” He asks, Keith shook his head.

“I’ll be fine.”  He says. Honerva puts a hand on his back and leads him, Keith getting the feel or the home down as he enters the room.  Two boys look over from their card game with a quirked brow.

“You two, this is the new kid, Keith.”  Honerva says. “Keith, these two are named James and Lotor.”  She says. Both of them wave. Keith waves his cane around, Zarkon lead him to a bunk bed, gesturing to the bottom bunk.  Keith crawls on. Both boys look at Honerva.

“Uh… mother?”  Lotor got her attention and waves his hand in front of his eyes.  She nods, leaving the boys alone. Keith unclips his bag and lays down.  Lotor looks at James and decides to greet himself.

“So… your name is Keith.”  Lotor said, Keith nods. “I’m Lotor, figured you should tell James and I apart from our voices.”  He looks at James, he waves.

“Hi Keith.”

“Hello.”  Keith waves.  He held the toy close, Lotor looks at it.

“Cute lion.  Does it have a name?”

“Black.”  Keith says.  “It’s what color it is… right?”

“I… think so.”  Lotor quirks a brow.  “I can’t see color, sorry.”  He chuckles. James rolls his eyes and went back to playing with the cards.

“Can we get back to playing Lotor?  I want to win sometime soon.”

“I don’t think uno is a good game for two people.”

“Like anyone else is playing.”  James said. “I’d ask the new kid, but well.”  He said, Keith felt something rise in him. Was this kid giving him a hard time cause he’s blind?  No, that can’t be it. Maybe it’s because this kid has a hard time with new people.

Keith pouts and messes with Black’s tuft around its neck.  He thinks Lotor is nice, and easy to tell apart due to him having his Dad’s accent, but James may be a bit of a challenge.  Oh well, it’s a decent sized house, so besides night Keith might not have to deal with him.

* * *

Keith walks downstairs slowly, grabbing onto the railing as he descends.  He made it and started using his cane again. Hearing it click clack as it hits objects around him.  He hears someone following him and giggling at the sound the cane made.

“Why are you doing that?”  A small voice asks, a young girl?  He finds a couch and sat down. The child follows him.  “Why do you do that?”

“I can’t see.”  He deadpans. The girl looks at his eyes, she waves a hand in front of them.  “Okay I can’t see but I know what you’re doing.” He says harshly. The girl giggles.

“Wow you really cannot see.”  She tells him.

“I just said I can’t.”  He says. The girl starts to chuckle, Keith wonders what was so funny.

“Plaxium.”  Honerva’s voice rang.  “Are you picking on Keith?”

“No mother.”

“Knock it off!”  She points a finger at the girl.

“Sorry mother.”  She glares at Keith and walks off.  “Just wondering why he’s hitting our furniture.”  She mumbles. Honerva sighs and looks at Keith.

“Keith, do you like chicken and potatoes?”

“Yeah.”  Keith nods.  She looks back at her counter.

“Okay, cause that’s what we’re having.”  She says. A few other kids walk down and see Keith just sitting there, in his own thoughts.

“Who’s that?”  A young boy asks.

“That, dear boy, is your new brother Keith.”  Lotor says. “He’s bunked with James and I.” Another girl runs up to him.

“What’s wrong with his eyes, they aren’t looking at anything.”

“Well excuse me.”  Keith snaps, the girl squeaks and hops away.

“Florona, he cannot see.”  Lotor says. “Come on, you guys wanted to play outside.  Keith, want to come?” Lotor asks, Keith shrugs. Why not.  He grabs his cane and follows the others out.

They decided to play kickball outside, Keith just wandered around.  The kids were getting into their game that they barely noticed Keith aimlessly wandering around, trying not to get in the middle of their game.

Then the ball hit Keith’s head, he yelps at the contact then looks up with a very surprised face.  The kids laughed at him.

“Heads up~”  Plaxium sneers.

“Yeah, watch out Keith~”  James said. Keith felt for the ball, he grabs it and stares in the kids direction.  He threw it away from them, it got caught in a tree. All the kids ceased their laughing and then groaned.

“Way to ruin our fun.”  Florona pouts. All the kids glare at Keith as he continued to walk around.  He didn’t care, they laughed at him. They can suffer.

Lotor ran up to the tree and climbed up to get it.  Keith wanders over and hears him grumble his displeasure.

“Sometimes I hate being the eldest.”

“Must suck.”  Keith comments.  Lotor looks down and sighs.

“I can’t believe you got the ball caught in a tree.”

“Lucky throw.”

“Not very lucky for me.”  He says. He got the ball and threw it down.  A random boy caught it and ran off with the others.  Lotor hops down and looks at Keith. “Next time they laugh, just walk away.”  He joins the kids in another round. Keith went back to wandering around the backyard.

* * *

Lights out meant time to sleep, Keith curls up in his bed and hears both Lotor and James snore.  It wasn’t comforting at all. His first day in foster care wasn’t so good. He is having such a hard time fitting in, everyone treats him like the oddball, even though he is the oddball.  He shouldn’t be treated like he’s stupid, it’s not like he saw the ball coming. This was frustrating him more he thought about it.

He closes his eyes and brought his toy close.  Feeling some sort of comfort from the lion he drifts off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

The next month in care sucked.  Keith hates it there. His foster parents are kind, he likes them, their son is at least nice to him, but the others?  Jeez, why not tie him up and abandon him near a river. That might be the nicest thing they’d do.

They keep making fun of him for, obviously, being blind.  They give him a hard time when they’re playing a game, whether Keith is involved or not, they make fun of his intelligence.  He can’t read though! They ask him dumb and insulting questions about blind people, which is annoying as all hell. To top it all off, they call him by this stupid nickname ‘ _ Click-Clack _ ’ and he knows damn well Plaxium started it.

He wishes they’d leave him alone, but living under the same roof as them proved to be impossible for the poor kid.  He can’t get a moment of peace when they’re around. And the teasing never ceases. Keith can only take so much.

The last thing that had ever happened made Keith want to hurl, want to run away.  It was a new low.

James walked up to him when he was messing with a book that had a bunch of different fabrics, just feeling them, and spoke up.

“Hey Keith, I have some weird news for you.”

“Go away James.”  Keith said in a cold voice.  James smirks.

“That’s no way to talk to your soulmate, now is it.”  He says, Keith slowly glances in his direction. Seriously?  This kid is his soulmate? Does God really hate him?

“What?”

“Yeah, weirded me out too.  But I looked in your eyes and then, all of a sudden, I see the world differently!  It’s so different with color!”

“Really?”  Keith sounded interested.  “How different is it?” He asks.

“Just… it’s just not like how I thought it’d be.”  He says. Then he looks at Keith with a smug grin. “Since you’re my soulmate, that means you love me right?”

“I-I guess?”  Keith said that like a question.

“Good.”  He claps.  “Listen, I really want one of those cookies mom made.”

“But they’re cooling off.”

“So?  You can get me one, right?”  He asks. “Since you’re my soulmate and all.”  He said in such a weird puppy voice, talking down to Keith like he was an animal.

Keith got up and found the cookies cooling off.  He grabs one and hands it to him. James smiles.

“Aw thanks, you’re the best.”  He walks off. Keith sat there and started playing with the fabric again.  Wondering why now he had found his soulmate, and if he really likes the idea that it’s James of all people.

It went on for a few weeks, James would ask Keith to do something and he just did it.  Thinking this is what a soulmate does. Though every time he did it he’d hear Lotor sigh in disappointment.  Did he not like that Keith was doing this for his soulmate? Is Lotor jealous? 

Keith couldn’t tell.  But sometimes it’d be really odd things and Keith had no clue what to do or what to grab cause he can’t see.

“Keith, can you grab me a grape juice from the fridge?”  James asks. Keith nods and got up to get it. He feels for a juice in the fridge and brought it back.  James looks at it and groans. “I said grape, not apple!” He threw it at Keith, he held it and began to tear up.  “Jeez, you’re so stupid.”

Keith wonders why his soulmate is so cruel.  But he has to love him, right? They were destined, though Keith’s heart aches thinking about how he now has to spend the rest of his life with him.  He walks back into the kitchen, Lotor follows and got a juice. He walks back and throws it at his foster brother.

“Next time get off your lazy butt and do it yourself.”  He says in a cold tone, James rolls his eyes and began to drink it.

“At least someone can get it right.”  He mumbles. Keith looks down in shame, he can’t believe he’s this bad at pleasing his partner.

The next day was probably the worst though.  James walked up to Keith and took his cane from him.

“Can I try it?  I wanna see how it works.”

“Wha- James please, I need it!”

“No you don’t.  I’ve seen you walk without it.”  James said as he walked around. “I mean, it’d be awful if my soulmate couldn’t carry his own weight now.  I need to depend on you, don’t I?”

“Well, yeah… but-”

“Then let me play with it.”

“But it’s not a toy!”

“Later Keith,  _ love you~ _ ”  He sneers.  Keith sighs, no way he’s getting it back for a while.  He decided that he should just sit and wait for his cane to be back.

“Keith, can you come outside for a second?”  Florona asks. Keith sighs, he slowly got up and inched his way across the living room to the entrance in the kitchen.  He knows the place well that he doesn’t need his cane. But he would like it, it’s easier to get around.

He stumbles a bit out the door and walked out.

“Florona?  Did you ca-AH!”  He tripped over something in his way, he can’t tell what it was but it hit his foot pretty hard.  He heard laughter all around him. All of his foster siblings making fun of him.

“What a clutz!”  Plaxium said.

“You need to learn to watch where you’re going!”  Florona sneers. The other few kids kept laughing, Keith felt tears form in the corner of his eyes.  But he isn’t going to cry in front of them, they’d make fun of him for doing that too.

He felt his cane nudge his face, he grabs it and whimpers.

“Please give it back, I need it.”

“Aw~  “ _ I need it.  I need it. _ ”  What a weakling.  I can’t count on you for anything.”  He says. He drops it, Keith slowly reaches for it and sighs.  “By the way, if you can be such a doll, get me an ice cream sandwich?”  He asks Keith, he gave a sad look in James’s direction.

“B-But-”

“Wow, you are proving to be awful.  You don’t even love me.”

“I-I do.”  Keith says, James smirks.

“Then go get me one, maybe I can rely on you for one thing.”  He says, Keith whimpers but he slowly went back inside, he grabs one and went back out.  James took it without so much as a ‘thank you’. Keith went back inside and sat in his room.

He really is an awful partner, he can’t do anything without messing up.  How is he supposed to be a good partner if he can’t help James in the smallest of things.  He lays down and decides to take a nap. That awful experience needs to be buried in the back of his mind.

The next day he woke up and wandered around again, trying to go downstairs.  He heard talking and laughing in Plaxium and Florona’s room. He walks over and listens to the conversation.

“I can’t believe how dumb he is.  Does he seriously think he’ll ever have a soulmate?”  James’s voice rang through.

“Maybe someone who is desperate.”  Plaxium’s voice rang up. He heard more laughter.

“I mean really, I just told him ‘hey I’m your soulmate’ and he fell for it.  It’s funnier how I ask him for anything and he does it without a second thought, like a stupid kid.”

“No one will ever like a kid who can’t see anything ever.”  Florona said. They continued to laugh. Not Keith though, he felt hot tears roll down his face.  He ran into his room and hid under his blankets as he cried. He cannot believe James lied to him, and flat out harassed him for weeks! 

He felt used, betrayed, and heartbroken.  And they were right, Keith will never find his soulmate, not after this.  Because now Keith won’t trust anyone, he’ll never have a soulmate, because if he’s cursed with a dark world… then his ‘soulmate’ should suffer like him.


	2. Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so happy with all the positive feedback this story got! This makes me so excited to write it, I'm having so much fun writing it. Hope you enjoy the chapter ^^

“Okay, you sure you got this?”

“I think so.”  Keith nods.

“Alright, here.”  Lotor grabs his hands.  “Ready, and…”

“Tic tac toe, give me an X give me an O, give me a three in a row.”  They chanted at the same time and clapped along. “Rock, paper, scissors.”  Both got rock. “Rock, paper, scissors.”

“Aw.”  Lotor groans.  “Beat me.”

“Really?”  Keith asks happily.

“I had rock, you chose paper.”

“Yay!”  Keith smiles.  Lotor grabs his hair and leans forward, showing Keith his neck.  Keith felt for it and chose his ring finger to push down with. Lotor got up and looks at Keith’s hand.  He chose his middle finger. “Nope!” He wiggles his ring finger.

“Are you kidding me?”  He asks. Keith chuckles.

“Give me your arm!”  He says. Lotor rolls his eyes and lifts his arm up.  Keith felt for it and felt where he needed to hit. He curls his hand up into a fist and smiles.  “I win you lose now you got a big BRUISE!” He shouts and slams as hard as he can on the joint of Lotor’s arm.  The older boy held his arm and groans, for a blind kid Keith sure is tough.

“You didn’t have to hit that hard.”

“I know, but I wanted to.”  He smiles, Lotor pushes him.

“Little shit.”

“You love me.”  Keith sings. Lotor sighs and leans back on his bed while Keith messed with Black again.  Ever since that issue with James Keith mainly sticks with either Lotor or his foster parents, hell he even wears a hoodie to cover his eyes now.  He only gets close when they have dinner together or have family movie night, which Keith always falls asleep.

That hasn’t stopped the teasing though, in fact it got worse.  His foster siblings will try and trip him when he’s walking up or down the stairs, they’ve gotten caught so many times doing that, ask him to pass something when they’re eating, take his cane while he sleeps, and hide Black from him.  Then they’d watch for a good few minutes as he frantically tries to find his toy.

Zarkon once even joined in and looked for it.  Which made the kids laugh even harder. They’d try to bug him at night, harass him during the day, and even though both his foster parents caught on and tried to stop it, nothing worked.  This went on for three years, and Keith assumed that his life was going to be awful.

Until one day when his family had big news.  Which started when one of his younger brothers came up and got Lotor and Keith, who were still playing their clap game.  Lotor was already about to hit Keith’s arm when the kid got them.

The kid was too excited to speak, but when they went down to meet up with their parents, they learned that they were going to go to a park, which to the foster kids is pretty big, and having a picnic.  Apparently it’s a city outing, where you can get food and celebrate some sort of big event.

They left for it the next day, which meant a long drive there.  Which, for Keith, meant sitting with all the awful kids who make fun of him.  And oh boy, did they do that.

“So what are you gonna do Keith?”  James asks. “Maybe talk to the elderly, since you seem to fit in so well with them.”  He mocks him. The others laugh, Keith didn’t even look at him, but elbows him as hard as he could.  What you get when you sit shoulder to shoulder.

James pushed Keith, which caused him to bump into Plaxium.

“Watch it!”  She snaps at both of them.

“He started it!”

“Will you two shut up?”  Lotor asks looking behind him.  The two pout while Keith sat there, still expressionless.

They made it and all the kids hop out, one by one, like a clown car.  They walked to the park where a ton of people were already in tents eating and talking to one another, apparently it’s to celebrate this plane that flew around the world or something and it landed in their city, so celebrate it.  The plane was even on display, kids were wandering around it, going inside and everything.

The kids ran to the park, others ran to the plane.  Honerva and Zarkon took a breather and went to get food.  Lotor looks at Keith.

“I’m gonna go see the plane.”

“Okay.”  Keith nods and wanders away from his foster brother.  He made it to the park and it was a giant fort like playground with many slides and walls to climb, almost like a jungle gym.  Keith taps around and found some stairs. He climbs them carefully and then proceeds to walk around the area.

Everything is going up and down, Keith has a hard time finding any stable ground.  He made it to one part that made an unusual noise when he hits it with his white cane.  He slowly walks on and it wobbles. Keith yelps and grabs onto the side of the wobbling floor.  It was a bridge. He heard kids running back and forth on it, thinking it was fun. Keith didn’t find it fun, who finds this fun?  Not him.

He takes a deep breath and began to walk across it, then giggling and jumping happened.  He yelps again and held onto the side, he could tell who it was due to the giggling.

“Florona I swear I will smack you upside the head!”  He snaps in anger. She stuck her tongue out.

“You can’t hit me if you can’t see me!”  She sassed, Keith immediately swings his cane near her head, satisfied to hear her squeak in fear.

“Next time I won’t miss!”

“Bully!”  She cries and ran to find one of their other siblings, Keith smiles and kept walking.  He made it across the bridge and felt pretty proud of himself. He made it to a large flat area that had some sort of large rubber circle.  He kept hitting it, wondering how large it was. Then a head pops out from it and looks over.

He looks at Keith, who seemed to be looking at him, but in reality Keith was still wondering what the stupid rubber thing is and what it’s doing there.  They paused for a moment.

“Yo.”

“Eh?”  Keith jumps a bit.  “Hello?”

“Down here, you just saw me.”  The unfamiliar voice rang. “Here, let me… climb… up.”  The person got up and took a big breath, he sounded around Lotor’s age.  “Jeez, I’m sixteen yet I already feel too old for this.”

“Did you come from this thing?”

“Duh, it’s a tire.  See? A big hole here.”  He points. Keith raised an eyebrow.  He felt for it as the kid kept talking.  “So what’s up with you? Here to celebrate the plane?”

“Not really.  My foster parents thought this would be a fun little outing that we could do and now we’re here.  I think they wanted a break from all the kids they have.” He says, that got the person to laugh.

“I’m here for free food.”  He admits, Keith actually chuckles.  “You wanna go get some?”

“Uh… sure.”  Keith nods. The guy smiles.

“Sweet.”  He hops back into the tire, Keith stood there awkwardly.  The guy pokes his head back up. “Uh, you coming?”

“I-I don’t know where you went.”

“Seriously?  I’m in the tire.  Just climb down, it’s an opening.”  He says. Keith got his cane back out and felt for the opening, the guy noticed.  “Oh… oh that’s why you didn’t notice me.” He says quietly.

He got out of the tire and grabs Keith’s arm.

“Here, follow me.  There’s another way down.”

“There is?”

“Yeah, come on!”  The guy pulls on Keith’s arm, climbing up and down stairs, they got to a rubber ladder.  “Careful, just hold onto my arm.” Keith slowly began to climb, his legs shaking in fear.  “That’s it… you’re okay.”

Keith stops after his foot slipped into a large gap on the ladder, the man before him caught him and carrying him up the rest of it.

“Here you go.”  

“T-Thank you.”  He says quietly.  The guy chuckles.

“Don’t mention it.  Come on, a few more stairs.”  They walked up and stopped in front of a slide.  The guy sat down and looks at Keith. “Just sit down and you’ll slide down, hence why it’s called a slide.”  He went down with a ‘weeeeee’. Keith waits a bit

He swallows hard and got on his knees, crawling over and feeling the slide.  He swung his legs over and sat down. Folding his cane up and held it close, he prayed to whoever he was listening to him and went down.  It felt like he was falling and it creeped him out.

He made it down, still curled in a ball, eyes wide.  The man looks at him and laughs.

“Oh man, if you could see your face right now-”  He said through laughter.

“S-Shut up!”  He scooched his way off the slide, the man held onto Keith’s shoulder and walked with him, watching as Keith swung his cane back and forth.  The shaking in his legs stopped as soon as he hit flat ground.

“You know.”  The man started, Keith looks up at him.  “I didn’t ask your name.”

“Keith.”

“Keith, huh?”  He smiles. “Nice to meet you, names Takashi, but most of my friends call me Shiro.”

“Hello Shiro.”  He says. They made it to the food tent where majority of the adults were hanging out.  Shiro grabs a plate and looks at Keith.

“Can you carry your own?”  He asks. Keith nods and grabs the tie at the top of his cane, putting it around his wrist.  He grabs his own plate and walked behind Shiro. The older man telling him what was in front of him, everytime Keith wanted what was in front of him he held his plate out to the server.  Then at the end they grabbed a drink, Shiro took a pepsi, Keith took whatever he grabbed first.

They got everything they wanted and found an empty table, Keith leans his cane up against the table and got comfortable on the plastic chair.

“So do you like anything on your hotdog, or plain?”

“Mustard only.”  Keith says. Shiro nods and picks up the mustard bottle.

“Glad they look different, if they made these the same shape I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”  Shiro jokes. Keith chuckles a bit and hears him put mustard on. “Here ya go.”

“Thanks.”  Keith said.  He took a bite as Shiro spoke.

“So… how long have you been…”  He quickly moves his hand in circles on his face, then realized he has to say it cause Keith was waiting for him to continue.  “You know… blind?”

“Oh.”  Keith didn’t sound as hurt as Shiro thought he would.  “All my life, I mean that’s what my parents told me.” He said, Shiro nods and hands Keith a fork for the baked beans he got.

“All your life huh?  Sounds rough.”

“It is.”  Keith didn’t want to make this a pity party, but it’s true.  It is rough.

“Do you think if you find your soulmate your vision will come to?”

“I doubt it.”  Keith said. He took a bite of beans and continued.  “Plus I don’t think I’ll ever find my soulmate.”

“Well if you keep wearing that hood like that-”  He teases. Keith smirks and swats Shiro’s hand away.

“They wouldn’t like me anyways.”

“Well I like you, and I just met you.”

“Not my soulmate.”

“Your soulmate was chosen by fate, by destiny.  You’re going to meet them sooner or later, it’s inevitable.”  Shiro says, Keith huffs and takes another bite. He knows what people say, that no matter what they’ll enter your life.  But that won’t happen to Keith, he won’t let it. He wears a hood over his eyes for a reason.

Just in case his soulmate enters his life they won’t see his eyes.  They won’t ever see color, just like how he won’t ever see. It’s mean, but Keith has a hard time trusting anyone.

“Plus your soulmate will probably love you.”  He says. Keith shook his head and took a sip of whatever he took for a drink.  Then his face twisted into disgust, then sadness.

“Ewwww…”  He whines.  Shiro looks at him and laughs.

“You don’t like your drink?”

“Noooooo.”  He cries, big eyes full of tears.  Shiro looks at the can, it was grape fanta.  He chuckles and hands it back to Keith.

“You don’t like fruity soda, do you?”

“It tastes so baaaad.”  He whines and pokes his can.  Shiro chuckles and took another bite of his food, still teasing Keith for the soda thing.  “It’s not funny, quit being mean!”

“Sorry, I’m not trying to be mean.  I just- this is funny.” He says through laughter.  Keith pouts, he took Shiro’s bag of chips, crushing them in the process, and eating them.  Shiro gave a betrayed look. Keith ate them begrudgingly, he didn’t like the flavor.

“What flavor is this?”

“Dill pickle?”

“It sucks.”  Keith threw the bag, Shiro caught it and saved a few of his chips.  He smiles proudly. Keith pouts, he pokes at his can of soda and sighs.  “So what do you do? School?”

“Ah, no.  No I don’t go to school anymore.”  Shiro admits.

“Why not?”  Keith asks.

“Well according to my parents, I was a risk taker.  It’s the feeling of being free, the feeling that any moment could be my last.”  Shiro looks down and picks at a crumb. “I guess it’s cause I was put on such a tight leash as a kid so when I could get away… I did.”

“Don’t your parents worry?”

“Kind of, but since I went against them they didn’t really care that I left.”  Shiro said. “My mom still checks on me, making sure I’m doing okay.” He chuckles.  “I work for my friend’s dad and I get paid pretty good.”

“What do you do?”

“Well he has a tech thing.”  Shiro says. “Like works with computers.  I do most of the heavy lifting, and sometimes do some of the computer things.”  He flicks the crumb away. Keith raised an eyebrow, Shiro looks Keith in the eyes, almost like Keith was looking right at him.

“What do you do that’s so… “risky”?”  Keith asks. Shiro smirks and about spoke but someone behind Keith came up and took his food.

“Hey Keith, can I have a bite?”  James said, Keith glares.

“Give that back James!”

“Man, you should know to learn to share with your siblings.”  He says and took a bite. “Ew, jeez mustard?” He threw it. “Nasty.”  He took Keith’s fanta and about walked off, Keith stayed silent.

“Hey!”  Shiro snaps, James stopped and raised an eyebrow at Shiro.  “Go get another one for him.”

“Heh, you aren’t my Dad.”  He walks off. Shiro glares, he grabs his empty can and chucks it at James’s head.  The kid yelps and looks back in anger. Shiro looks back at Keith with confusion.

“Who was that?”

“My foster brother.  It’s fine, he always does this to me.”  Keith says quietly. Shiro gave a rather pathetic look at Keith, feeling bad for the kid knowing that someone in his “family” was this big of an ass to him.

Keith stayed quiet, head down low and looking meek.  Shiro could tell Keith wasn’t going to do anything. He decided to cheer him up.

“Hey, wanna do something fun?”

“Fun?”

“Yeah, follow me.”  He ran around the table and pulled Keith away, leading him to something.  They ran to something, Keith didn’t know what. Shiro lets go and Keith heard something kicked off the ground.  Shiro grabs Keith’s arm and lead him to the large object on the ground.

“Here, climb on.”  He says. Keith folded up his cane and felt the object, it felt like a leather seat.  “Okay, swing your right leg over. No not your left leg too, your right leg.” He instructs.  Shiro took Keith’s cane and puts it in a bag, he heard the zipper open and close. “Hold onto me okay?”

“Kay.”  Keith held onto Shiro’s back, then he heard a loud roar.  Keith squeaks and he hugged Shiro tight. The older man laughs and then shot off.  Keith shrieks, he felt like he was flying, even his hood flew off with his hair. Shiro kept laughing and kept riding around.

“Let go!”

“No!”

“Just trust me!”  He says happily, Keith gave a scared look.  He slowly lets go and held his arms out. The blind boy smiles and began to laugh as he flew through.  Shiro smiles and drove faster, Keith put one hand on Shiro’s back and kept laughing out loud.

They rode back to the park and Keith was giggling into Shiro’s back.

“Again!”

“You like motorcycles?”  He asks. Keith looks up at him with bright, unfocused eyes.  Shiro chuckles and rubs Keith’s head, he hops off and helps Keith off.  He took his cane out of the bag and gave it back. Keith unfolds it and felt the ground around him.

The two walk back to the tent, there Keith’s foster parents were waiting for him.  Honerva saw him and ran up to him, trapping him in a hug.

“Oh God Keith, where did you go?”  She asks. Keith backs away a bit to face her.

“I made a friend… I guess.”

“A friend?”  Honerva asks and looks up at Shiro, he waves.

“Hi.”  He looks away.  “Um… I took your son out on a ride.”  Keith nods happily, both his parents sigh and got up.

“Well good you made a friend.”  She says, Shiro smiles a bit till Zarkon stood right next to him.  Shiro backs away and looks at him in fear, Zarkon gave him a cold glare, then held his arm out.

“Nice to meet you.”

“N-Nice to meet you too…”  Shiro said in a shaky voice.  He walks away, Shiro gasps in relief.  Scary man is not so scary. He looks at Keith and pats his head.  “Guess this is where we part ways.”

“Huh?”  He gave big sad eyes under his hood.  Honerva chuckles and looks at Keith.

“I’m sure you’ll see your friend again.”

“But-”

“We’ll see eachother again Keith.  Promise.” He tells the ten year old.  He held his cane close and nods. Shiro waves goodbye and drove off.  They found the entire family and all headed their way home. The kids were just as nasty as usual, but Keith didn’t care.  He was happy that he found a friend.

* * *

A few long days later a knock came at the door.  Florona runs up to answer it, she opens up and looked scared.

“Hello.”

“C-Can I help you?”  She asks.

“Is Keith here?”  He asks, she nods slowly.  “Cool.” He walks in and shouts.  “Hey Keith! You here?” The voice echoed through the house.  Then they heard something rush down the stairs. Keith ran in, stumbling in the process, and rushed at Shiro.  Who purposefully moved in his way. And hugged him tight, lifting Keith in the air.

“Shiro!  Shiro! Shiro!”  He repeats over and over again, cuddling to him.  He puts Keith down. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to hang out, wanna go for a ride?”

“Yes!”  Keith jumps and tried running out.  Shiro follows him and his foster family watches as Keith hops onto the motorcycle happily.  Shiro takes the folded cane and puts it in the bag. Then they drove off, Keith laughing and cheering as they sped off.

All the kids stood there very confused.  Lotor smirks.

“He seems interesting.”  He walked off, the kids waiting for Keith and the weird man to come back.

* * *

Almost everyday for a month Shiro would come over and hang out with Keith.  The two would drive around, hang around the backyard, even at one point Honerva invited him for dinner.  Keith instantly connected with Shiro, he loved hanging out with him, loved being near him. He trusted him enough to introduce Shiro to Black, which Keith has kept safe from everyone since his siblings decided to bully him for owning it.

Shiro never really gave Keith a hard time nor pitied him for being blind.  In fact, he treated Keith like a normal kid, and both the parents loved that.  It was someone Keith could be near and not feel ashamed or embarrassed.

Of course one day Shiro had to ask Honerva and Zarkon what has been on his mind for a while.

“So, what happened to Keith’s parents?”  He asks. Honerva looks down while Zarkon spoke up.

“Keith’s parents died, they were crushed under debris after a tornado.”  He told him, Shiro’s eyes went wide and looked down.

“That’s why he’s here, but we know he isn’t happy here either.”  Honerva looks inside at the kids. “He’s treated like the odd one for being blind.  At one point James pretended to be his soulmate.” She sighs.

Shiro looks back at everyone with sadness, Keith was not happy in that place.  But he can’t leave, so he must live in such an unsafe environment. Shiro looks at the two and nods.

“I’ll see you all later.”

“Goodnight.”  Zarkon waves.

“Stay safe.”  Honerva says as he walked to his bike.  Then he stopped and looks back at them.

“Wait.”  He says. “You know Keith is unhappy, right?”

“We’ve established that.”  Honerva said. Shiro’s smile grew.

“Do I have an idea for you.”  He says happily.

* * *

The next day Keith was awoken by Honerva, she seemed excited, but Keith couldn’t see.  Now he’s wondering who was shaking him awake and why.

“Keith, Keith it’s me.”

“Mom, why are you waking me up?”

“Come come, follow me.”  She ran out the door, Keith gave an unamused look.  “Sorry, forgot, too excited.” She grabs him and lead him downstairs.

“What time is it?”

“Seven.”

“It’s summer vacation, why am I awake this early?”  He asks in annoyance.

“Because because!”  She says and runs into the kitchen.  Shiro looks over and sees a sleepy boy walking in.

“Hey Keith.”

“Shiro?”  He asks. He hits his cane around to try to find him.  Shiro puts his leg in front of the cane, Keith followed it and fell into Shiro’s arms.

“Hey kiddo.”

“Why are you here so early?”  He asks in a tired voice.

“Well I’m here to see you.”

“Too early.”  He whines. Shiro chuckles.

“Keith I have a question.”

“Shoot.”  He says.

“How would you feel living with me instead?”  He asks, Keith’s eyes went from dull and tired to full on shocked.

“What?!”

“Well do you?”

“Yes!”  Keith says happily.  He jumps in joy, then about fell over due to not landing right.  He fell back into Shiro’s arms laughing.

The parents packed all of Keith’s things and helped them load it onto the motorcycle, it couldn’t pack much.  Keith puts his backpack on and was lead out, following Shiro onto the bike. He hops on and smiles, he rides away.  Keith smiles and cuddles to Shiro’s back, happy to be leaving the house, hopefully his life will get better.

Zarkon and Honerva watch him leave their house, both waving knowing he won’t see it.

“You sure this is a good idea?”  Zarkon asks.

“Better than being here.”  She responds. “Trust me, this is for the best.”


	3. Green

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so funny story here... my computer broke down. I was in the middle of typing this chapter as well betrayal and when I went to the hospital to visit my brother my computer went to an error screen. I tried to click the link at the bottom but my mouse broke, so I plugged in my other mouse, since it's a laptop, and that mouse didn't work either. We tried clearing the entire computer, that did nothing. Nothing was working, so I had to get a new computer.  
> Now I have the new one today (or yesterday where I am) and I've been a typing machine, I'll be done with betrayals new chapter tomorrow probably. For now enjoy this chapter.

Keith hears his cane click and clack around the apartment, just trying to get use to the new surrounding.  Yesterday Shiro lead him around and told him where everything was when he hit it. He told Keith that his room is the second to the right, in a small hallway.  He explored his new room, found his bed to the side of the door. He flops on it and smiles, feeling happy to have his own space. No snoring, no getting woken up for random reasons, no one trying to steal his cane, and no stairs to run up and down, unless he’s leaving the building.

Well there’s a small step to get to the hallway, but Keith has now learned about that.  The first time he was unlucky and stubbed his toe on it. He curls onto his bed, feeling Black’s stuffed paw and rubs it between his fingers.  He closes his eyes and sighs, feeling so at peace. He waits for Shiro to come home from work, so for the whole day he had the house to himself… damn this is lonely.

* * *

“So what is it you wanted to show me?”  A young man asks.

“What’s the point of showing you if I told you?”  Shiro gave the guy a look.

“I’m curious.  You texted me when I was working!  My boss was about to take my phone and break it.”

“I want to see that weak man try.”  Shiro opens his apartment and walks in.  “Okay wait here, and I swear if you fall asleep I’ll kill you.”

“You wouldn’t kill me, you love me too much.”

“I’ll take your glasses and chuck them out the window.”  Shiro threatens.

“You wouldn’t!”

“I would, it’d be funny to see a massive white blob chase them out the window.”

“Says the man who’s whiter than me.”

“Am not!”

“Are too, look.”  They compared the color of their hands.  “See? I’m a little more grey than you.”

“Whatever, you sit.”  He says, the man salutes and sat down.  “Keith? I’m home!”

“Did you get a pet?”

“No.”  Shiro deadpans.  “Keith!” He shouts.  They heard the door open, Keith comes out and hugs Shiro tight.  He missed him and did not want to be alone anymore.

“It was so quiet here!  Never leave again!” Keith says.  Shiro chuckles.

“Want me to get you a fish?”

“What would I do with a fish?!”  Keith asks, Shiro’s smile never left.  The man sitting on the couch gave a dumbfounded look.

“Uh Shiro?”  He started, causing Keith to jump and lean over.  “Who is that, and why do you have it?”

“I am a person, thank you very much.”  Keith sassed, Shiro pats Keith’s head, his hood moved slightly.  Keith moved it back.

“Keith, this is my best friend Matt.  I work for his Dad.” He says. “Matt, I’d like you to meet Keith.  I met him at that plane thing your father helped set up. He was from a foster home so I took him in as my little brother.”  He says.

“Can I ask some questions?”  Matt asks. “First of all, is that legal?”

“If his legal guardians gave me rights to take him then yes.  Which they did.” Shiro says.

“Second, why did you take in an eight year old?”

“I’m ten!”  Keith squeaks.

“Okay everyone.  Listen, I took Keith in so he lives here now.  I wanted you two to meet before Matt decides to break in again.”

“You gave me a key, I have every right to break in.”  Matt points out.

“Because the first time you came over you climbed the fire escape and broke into my apartment through the window.”  Shiro said while pointing at the window. Matt smiles. “Anyways, Keith go introduce yourself.” He says, Keith sighs and started walking towards Matt.

Matt watched and saw Keith use his cane to walk over.  Matt looks at Shiro with shock, he shrugs and gestures to Keith.  Matt held his arm out, Keith felt for it and shook it.

“Nice to meet you Keith.”

“Yeah, you too.”  Keith said. Matt watched Keith walked towards the chair and sat down.  Matt looks at Shiro and gestures to his face, the same as Shiro did when he tried to talk to Keith.  Shiro nods, silently telling Matt that his suspicions were correct.

“So you come in all the time?”

“He does.”  Shiro says in a tired tone.  “So Keith, if you ever hear the bathroom go off or someone’s on the couch when you wake up, it’s him.”

“Do I have to check?”  Keith asks, Shiro nods.

“Yes, use your cane to check.”  He said through a chuckle. Matt glares at him.

“No, please do not smack me with your cane!”  He says, Keith giggles and curls up on the chair.  Matt rolls his eyes. “You think you’re cute.”

“He knows he’s cute.”  Shiro said. Keith slowly lifts his hood, showing his eyes, and kept smiling.  Matt could see Keith’s grey eyes somewhat light up. Matt gave Keith a look he couldn’t see and went back to talking to Shiro.

After that Keith noticed that Matt comes over a lot, like a lot.  He woke up to the sounds of the toilet and scared him to death. He walks to the kitchen to grab a glass of water only to find Matt eating their food, he waves at Keith.  Then Keith woke up early and went into the living room, he lifts his cane and smacks the couch, low and behold Matt was there dead asleep. The young boy wonders how Shiro can put up with Matt constantly being in his house without his permission.

Shiro tells him that they’ve been friends for so long that it doesn’t phase him anymore.  Keith gave up and now has to live with this one person constantly breaking in. He could get use to that, Matt seems nice.  Keith gets along with him easily, and with enough time he grows use to his company.

One day he fell asleep in the chair, curling to Black, while Matt was over.  Shiro got home and saw Matt was already there.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh I came in and he was already asleep.  He’s adorable, look at him sleep.” Matt says happily.  Shiro looks at his brother and pats his head, Keith moves a bit in his sleep then goes still again.  

“He must’ve been really lonely today.”  Shiro said, feeling bad for the poor kid.

“Nothing you can do, you have to work.”  Matt tells him. “Don’t worry, soon he’ll go back to school.”

“I know, but that’s two months away.  I don’t want to keep leaving him all alone.”  He tells Matt. He fixed his glasses and thought while his friend worried for his new little brother.  He knew this was hard, they were the only ones living together. Not like his place where it’s both of his parents, his mom usually stays home to watch his si-

“Hey!”  Matt shouts, causing Shiro to jump and nearly fall out of his spot.

“What?!”

“I have an idea, when is your next day off?”

“Saturday?”

“Okay, let’s make a plan to meet up at my place.  Bring Keith!” Matt ran out of the apartment, Shiro will never understand his friend.

* * *

“Where are we going?”  Keith complains, waving his cane back and forth.  Shiro chuckles at the child’s attitude and lead him to Matt’s place.  They walked up to the house and walked in.

“Hello, hello?”  He asks. Colleen walks in and waves.

“Hello Shiro, how are you?”  She asks, then looks down. “And who is this?”

“His clone, something went wrong during the process.”  Keith says, Shiro elbows him, he yelps and glares under his hood.  Colleen laughs.

“Aw he’s precious.”  She says.

“This is my brother Keith.”  Shiro says. Colleen pats Keith’s head.

“It’s nice to meet you.”  She says. “If you’re here to see Matt I’m afraid he’s at work still.”

“Aw really?”  Shiro asks. “He told me to meet him here.  Damn him.” He sighs and walks into the living room, Keith follows him.  The two sat down and Shiro turned the TV on, Keith listens to it with little interest.

They sat around for an ungodly amount of time in Keith’s world, wondering where Matt is and where he went.  Then he felt someone sit next to him, he tries to ignore the presence next to him, though they were blaring holes into his skull.  Shiro looks over and laughs.

“Hey Katie.”  He says to a very small child, who didn’t say anything back.  She kept staring at Keith. Shiro waits to see how this goes down.

She kept staring, waiting for him to do something.  She pulls his hood down.

“Are you sweating?”  She asks, Keith said nothing and continued to drift off into his own little world.  That came to an end when she took his cane. “What’s this?”

“Give that back!”

“What is it?”

“Katie, please give that back to him.”  Shiro said.

“Can I play with it?”  She asks.

“No that’s not for playing.  Keith needs that to “see”.”

“See?”  She asks then looks at Keith, trying to see his eyes.  Keith kept them covered up for the sake of his own protection.  “Oh, he has no eyes!” Katie said like she solved the mystery, Shiro chuckles at how adorable she is.

“No Sweetie, Keith has eyes.”

“He does?”  She tries to pull his hood off, Keith grumbles and fought against her.  However Katie was not one to go down without a fight, she was determined to see if Shiro was being honest.  Does this boy have eyes? She’ll know soon enough.

Shiro sighs and grabs onto Keith’s hood, pulling it down.  Keith’s eyes went wide with fear. Katie looks and points at Keith accusingly.

“He does have eyes!”  She got closer and looked at them.  Then she turned around, then back at him.  “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.”  He mumbles.

“Are you looking at the TV?”  She asks while looking back.

“No.”  He says.  She gave a confused look, looking back and forth between where Keith’s eyes were and back at his face.

“Are you looking at the fireplace?”

“There’s a fireplace?”  Keith asks with curiosity.

“Yeah, it’s dis thing.”  She hands Keith the cane and watches him walk forward to check the fireplace out.  She looks back at Shiro and points. “Shiro he’s tapping the fireplace.”

“That’s how he sees Sweetie.”  He says.

“Oh.”  Was all she said, she watches him for a few moments, then grabs his arm.  “Come play with me.” She commands.

“Huh?”

“Come play!”  She got him to stand and lead him away.  He panics and calls for Shiro, he waves at Keith.  Poor kid didn’t know where he was going, he follows her upstairs and into her room.  There they began to play whatever Katie wanted.

* * *

Matt runs in and sees Shiro eating chips and relaxing on the couch.

“Finally you show up, slow grey bastard.”

“Shut up.”  Matt says. “Work was a pain and I hate life.”  He sat next to Shiro and smiles. “So… does Keith like hanging out with Pidge?”  He asks, Shiro raised an eyebrow.

“Did you plan this cause you knew your sister would want to play with him?”  He asks. Matt nods.

“I was sure her seeing another child not from her class would interest her.”  He says. “So where are they?”

“Dunno, it’s been about an hour.”  Shiro said looking at the clock. He got up and walks upstairs, Matt right behind her.  They peek into the room and see them playing something, stuffed animals everywhere.

“He disrespects the Queen!”

“Die woman!”  Keith shouts. “My kingdom will win!”

“No I will not!”  Pidge threw a paper ball at him, he picks it back up and threw it at her.  Shiro and Matt walked in and looked at the two.

“Uh Pidge?  What are you doing?”  Matt asks, both kids sat there in silence, then Pidge yells.

“Alliance, attack the new kingdom!”  She shouts, both her and Keith began to throw paper balls at them, the walked out and looked at eachother.

“I guess they’re getting along.”  Shiro said. The door opens and the two kids stood there.  They held their weapons up, both boys back away, then ran down the stairs.  Pidge and Keith yell a victory call and ran after them.

After that day Keith and Pidge hung out all the time.  Whenever Matt came over he had to bring his sister, no objections.  And everytime she came over Keith would get excited and run to her, squeezing her in the process.  It was nice that Keith had such a close friend that wasn’t related to him in some way.

They were inseparable, till school started.  Keith was in fifth grade while Pidge was in first.  That was heartbreaking for both of them, but they walked in together.  They walked into the building, never seeing it before, so they both felt the same fear.

“Do you know where you’re going?”  She asks, Keith shook his head.

“Never been here.”  He says, swaying his cane back and forth.  Pidge walks in front of it and hops over it everytime it swayed, like she was playing jump rope.  Then they found where they had to seperate. Pidge looks at Keith and held his arms.

“My friend, this is where we split ways.”

“I will remember you, my friend.”  He deadpans. The two sang a different sad song then split up into the unknown.  Keith hears his cane go click clack into the hallways. He found his classroom after a bit of walking.

He walks into the room and stood on the side, waiting for someone to help him with finding where he has to sit.  After a while the classroom filled up, Keith stood there awkwardly while friends sat around and talked to one another.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a calming voice talk to him.

“Hello, you must be Keith.”

“Y-Yeah.”  Keith nods, pulling on his hood.  The voice chuckles.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, my name is Ms. Luxia.  I am your teacher.”

“Oh, hello…”  He said quietly.  She nods and leads him to his desk, the students stopped and watched Keith as he walked by.  Like he was some caged animal. He quietly sat down and waited for class to start, not knowing what was going to happen to him.  His teacher began to speak and thus class started.

* * *

Day one of school was an absolute shit show for Keith.  First off reading, one kid had to make fun of him for not being able to read, causing Keith to attempt at hitting him with his cane.  Second math, that was not fun. Keith was never good at that, he hates math. Third, third was writing, that went as expected. Forth was science, and that was normal for Keith.  His class was learning about space so they watched videos, or in Keith’s case, listened.

Then it was gym class, while the kids were running laps Keith was learning how to do push ups and sit ups, as well as stretches.  Keith didn’t mind it, it was nice to do something he doesn’t normally do. However all the kids thought it was unfair that Keith didn’t run with them.  But they thought they got justice when they started playing with scooters and Keith didn’t. He honestly did not care.

But back to the entire day, it wasn’t fun.  Keith really hates being the black sheep of the group.  He walked out of the school and felt a tiny body push up against him.  He smiles and turns to face them.

“Hey Pidge.”

“Hello!  So how was it?”

“As expected, I can’t do most of the things people in my class can do.”

“To be expected Keith.”  Pidge points out like the smart child she was.  “They have their vision, you don’t. However one does not need vision to be smart.”

“Uh, yeah you do.  You need vision in order to learn.”

“Oh yeah?”  She asks. “You’re one of the smartest people I know.  Don’t let one bad thing about yourself define you.”

“The one bad thing that people notice about me?”

“At least you’re not a criminal.”  Pidge points out, Keith chuckles.

“I’d be the worst criminal ever.”  He said. “I’d make it two feet then probably run into a cop.”  He says through his chuckles, the six year old laughs too.

“Yeah, that’d be you.  I’d be the getaway driver wondering what’s taking you so long.”  They both began to laugh at the dumb scenario they made in their head.  Pidge looks up and points. “Matt’s here. Come on.”

Keith follows his tiny friend to her brother’s car, they climb into the back and got themselves ready.

“So did you two have fun?”

“No.”  Keith comments.

“People in my class are dumb.”  Pidge points out.

“I know Pidge, most people are dumb.  But first grade is mostly social skills, which you seriously lack.”

“I have Keith!”

“I know you do, but you need to make more friends.  By the time you reach middle school you’ll be learning all about soulmates, you’ll need social skills for that.  I’m sure Keith is learning a bit now since that’s next year for him.”

“I really don’t want to learn about that.”

“Well too bad.  We all meet our soulmate someday so it’s best we know about it before it happens to us.”  Matt says with a smile. “Plus it’s interesting, it’s the one thing science still cannot explain.”  He tells the two in the back.

“Then it’s pointless.”  Pidge says. “You still haven’t found your soulmate, neither has Shiro.”

“I know, but we will someday.”  Matt says. “It’s like a journey, once we see into their eyes we see a whole new world.”

“Lucky you.”  Keith grumbles.  He really hates talking about soulmates, it’s something he doesn’t believe in.  You could blame his past on that, but at the same time it just sounds ridiculous.  Before he loved the idea, but now he thinks it’s dumb and impossible. The universe assigns everyone one person to be your lover?  Out of how many at that? And no matter what you will find them, in a world this big?!

Keith laughs at the idea, it’s so illogical.  He’s glad that someone thinks like him, that being Pidge.  Okay, she didn’t think like him one hundred percent, but she had the same ideas.  That this seems so weird and illogical, but she believes that someone is out there for everyone.  She reminds Keith of this whenever he feels bad about soulmates, saying that someday he’ll meet his.  Then Keith drops the conversation by talking about cats or something, anything to get Pidge to think of something else.

But unlike him she has a chance, she can see.  And she longs to see color, she wants to know what it looks like, and grows upset when she can’t see it.  Keith can’t even see a tree two feet ahead of him, so what’s she complaining about?

They climbed out of the car and walked into the apartment building.  The three walked up the stairs to the fourteenth floor, Pidge already gasping for air as they hit Shiro’s apartment.

“Why is your home so high up?!”

“It could be worse.”  Keith points out as Matt unlocks the door.

“Shut up.”  She hisses and follows her brother in, Keith walks after her and walks towards the couch, he doesn’t really need his cane anymore when he’s in the house.  Unless Shiro moves the furniture around, Keith can find the couch and chair with ease.

Keith sighs, feeling safe in his house after such a long day at school.  He pulls his hood down, his hair flying everywhere. Pidge looks at her friend and smooths his hair down for him, he hums in appreciation.  The two kids sat around in silence while Matt raids the fridge.

He walks into the living room and sat down on the chair, eating all of their chips and took a coke.  Taking their stuff again, jeez no wonder Shiro buys so many snacks. He has a freeloading friend who comes in all the time.

He turns the TV on and the three channel surfed, Pidge and Matt arguing about what to watch while Keith lays down.  Resting his head on his tiny friends lap. The small six year old pets his hair and watches the news with her brother, they both settled on something they didn’t like.

The news was talking about some famous fuck finding their soulmate and how happy they were together.  Keith rolls his eyes and continued to cuddle to his friend. Matt and Pidge talked about this actor or actress, she sounded female, finding their one true love.

Soon enough Shiro comes in and walks past the group to his room.

“Hello Keith, hello people who don’t live here.”

“Hi Shiro.”  Pidge says, Keith waves while Matt says nothing and kept eating their snacks.

“Must you eat my food?”  He asks, Matt smiles sweetly and continued to watch the news.  Shiro walks into his room and changed, walking out in jeans and a band t-shirt.  He sat on Keith’s legs, the kid groans in pain and glares at his brother, though he looked like he was glaring at Matt.

“So what’s up?”  He asks the child.  Keith raised an eyebrow.

“Dunno.  The ceiling, I hope.”  Keith said with a smirk.  Shiro pushed Keith’s head down, the kid makes an ‘oof’ noise and his face buried in Pidge’s lap.  The older boy watches TV with his friends while sitting on his brothers legs.

The news kept talking about this celebrity who found true love, the four kids gave a bored look while looking at the grey TV, or at nothing, depends on the person.  Soon the news anchor said that the next story was something local and said that would happen after the break, then it changed to commercials. Shiro looks at the two kids and asked.

“So how was school?”

“Stupid, everyone is stupid.”  Pidge comments.

“Oh, okay then.”  Shiro nods. “Keith?  How about you?”

“I hated it.”

“I expected that.”  Shiro said, Keith pouts and wiggled his legs out from under Shiro.  He lays them across his brothers lap. Shiro pats his legs and looks at the child.  “But was it that bad?”

“Yes.  All I learned was how to stretch and Saturn has rings.”  Keith said. Shiro pats his head.

“Well ya learned something.”

“I kind of did.”  Keith said. “I’m surprised that the first day they threw us into it right away.”

“It’s not like high school.”  Matt says. “High school they introduce themselves the first day then the next day you start class.”  He tells the kids. The two just look at him with little to no care about what he had to say.

Shiro pats his brother’s head, Keith moves his head in his direction and smiles at him.

“It’ll be okay.  Trust me, things will work out for both of you.”  He says. “After all, you both are still young. You have your whole lives ahead of you.”

“Unlike you, old timer.”  Keith sassed. Shiro smirks at that comment.  He grabs his little brother and gave him a noogie.  Keith giggles and squirms, trying to escape his brother’s grasp.  The two fought each other while the other two were watching, waiting for their friends to stop messing with one another.

* * *

The two kept going through their school years together.  Though after their first year they never went to the same building.  The two were separated for the remainder of their school career. However they always hang out after school or on weekends.  They were still inseparable as they were when they were young kids.

His last year of school was no exception to this, Pidge was in her last year of middle school when he was in his last year.  The two were walking around during the weekend, talking about whatever came to mind. Keith’s cane swayed back and forth as they walked around the city, Pidge by his side.

“So Keith, how’s life?”  She asks. Keith’s head moves to the side, in thought.

“It’s good I guess.”

“You’re almost a graduate.”  Pidge points out, Keith nods in agreement.

“I still can’t believe it, that I’m actually gonna graduate.”  He messes with his bangs. “Seems so surreal.”

“I know what you mean.”  Pidge agrees. “I can’t believe you’re gonna leave me all alone.”  She says and nudges his hip with hers, he chuckles and kept walking.

“Sorry I’m gonna leave you.”

“You better be.”  The two laugh, it was short lived when out of nowhere something jumped on Keith.  The poor boy about fell back but he held his ground. He lifts his hands up and felt what jumped on him, it was furry.

He quirked his brow in confusion, and Pidge wasn’t saying anything.  Before Keith could speak something wet and slimy touched his face, it was a tongue.  He makes an ‘eck’ noise and tried to push it away, but it continued to lather his face.  He heard someone run up and yell.

“Chico!”  A woman's voice shouts.  She runs up and pulls the furry creature down.  “I am so sorry sir, he saw you and just went crazy.”  She tells Keith.

“It’s alright.”  Keith held his hand up as to say ‘no harm done’.  He reaches out to find the furry creature. He felt a wet nose nudge his hand and put it’s head under his palm, demanding to be pet.  Keith chuckles, now knowing that it was a dog, a dog who likes him for some reason.

“Who’s a good boy?  You are, yes you are~”  He cooes the dog, it went back to licking his face happily.  Keith laughs and lets the dog love him.

“It’s so cute.”  Pidge, the obvious dog person, walks up and pats the dogs head.  “Is he a german shepherd?” She asks, the woman nods.

“Yes.”  She nods and looks back at her dog.  “He really likes your friend here.”

“I heard that dogs know when someone is disabled.”  She says, Keith tensed at that. He doesn’t like being called that or even considered disabled.  He wants to be seen as someone normal, but heck even the dog knows he’s different. “I’ve heard german shepherds are especially good with people with disabilities.”

“Really?”  The woman asks.  “So maybe Chico could tell you needed someone to take care of you.”  She says to Keith, he frowns a bit but he continues to pet the dog. Pidge noticed that Keith’s face and felt bad, she grabs Keith’s arm and pulls him up.  The dog whimpers, wanting Keith to come back down and pet him.

“You know, you seem to love dogs.  I think a service dog would be good for you.”  She says and waves them off. Pidge watched as the dog and his owner left them.  She looks back at her best friend and smiles.

“Maybe she’s right.”  She says, Keith’s head turned to face her.  “You might like a service dog.”

“But isn’t one expensive?”  He asks. “And even then it’ll be hard to keep a dog in a small apartment.  I don’t think Shiro will approve.”

“Well why don’t we ask?”  Pidge asks, Keith shook his head.

“I don’t want to burden him.  He’s already done so much for me.”  Keith said. “Let’s just go home.”

“Heh, I know where I’m going.”  She smirks. He sighs and rolls his eyes.

“Your brother is rubbing off of you.”  He says. Sliding his cane back and forth, Pidge jumped over it, playing jump rope again.

* * *

The two did end up talking to Shiro about a dog for Keith, he wasn’t totally against it.  The main problem was, obviously, the cost of it. Shiro does get a decent paycheck, and Keith gets quite a bit of money from the government due to his visual impairment, but they have a hard time to pay everything off as is.

Keith was fine with no dog, he’s been fine for seventeen years.  But Pidge was actually determined to get her best friend a dog. She thinks it’d be good for him, especially since he’ll be out of school soon and be home a lot more, he’ll be lonely for sure.  So she spends her freetime at school and at home looking for other ways to get a dog for him.

She bursts through the door of their apartment one day.  Shiro jumps and glares at her from the kitchen.

“Katie?!”  He asks in horror.

“Shiro!”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kick your grey ass out.”  He growls, she was worse than Matt sometimes. She runs up to the older man and held a piece of paper up, she printed something off at school and was excited to show him.

“Look!”  She puts it down, Shiro looks over and read it.  “They’re giving away a puppy! It’s really cheap and they’re nearby.  See? Look, their phone number and everything.”

“Hm?”  He reads it over, he sees the picture of a happy looking dog.  He saw the price, it said around 200 dollars, the price may vary but it won’t change drastically.  Shiro made a very concerned face and shrugs. “I don’t know Katie…”

The tiny thirteen year old looks at him with some sort of confusion.  She thought he’d be happy to see it.

“I guess we’ll think about it.”

“What?”  She asks.

“We’ll think about it.”

“Oh come on Shiro!  Can’t we go see it?”  She asks.

“We’ll have to make a date to see it-”

“So let’s make a date.”

“Pidge, a puppy is a huge responsibility, we’ll have to buy food and a collar, and get it approved to be a service dog.  Also remember we live on the fourteenth floor, it would be hard to train it to go outside.”

“But a dog would be perfect for Keith!”  She argues. “It’ll help with his stress, make him feel less lonely, help lead him around if necessary, a dog is the best idea ever for him!”

“Oh my God, if I agree to see this dog will you shut up?” He asks in anger.

“Not just you, Keith has to go too.  This dog is for him after all.” Pidge said with a smirk.  Shiro sighs and nods.

“Yes yes, whatever.”  He says as he calls the number.  Pidge became giddy and jumps around.

“Where’s Keith by the way?”  She asks, Shiro points.

“Taking a shower.”

“Cool.”  She ran to the bathroom and knocks on the door.  “Keith?” Pidge calls. She heard him shift in the shower.

“Pidge?”

“Hey, you almost done?”

“Yeah, give me a sec.”  He calls. She nods and walks into the living area and sat on the couch, hearing Shiro talk to the person over the phone.  A few minutes later the shower turn off, Keith came out with a towel around his waist, hair sticking to his head and neck. He didn’t have his cane on him, however he’s so use to the area that he walked around like it was nothing.  You wouldn’t be able to tell that Keith was blind.

“Where are you?”  He asks.

“Couch.”  She calls, he walks over and kicked around the edge to find her feet.  Once he found here he sat down on the other side. Shiro got done talking to whoever was giving away the dog and walks up to the two kids.

“Okay so they want to meet tomorrow.  We’ll go after I get off of work- Keith we have company.”

“She’s my best friend, it’s not like she hasn’t seen this before.”  He comments.

“Sadly.”  She comments.  Shiro groans and sat on the couch.  Pidge smiles and leans against Keith’s wet arm.  He leans back into the couch, letting the cushions soak.

“So Keith, get ready to go somewhere tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Cause Pidge and I are taking you somewhere.”

“You’ll love it, trust me.”  She cuddles into his arm. Keith didn’t know if he should trust them.  He’s known them for seven years and he has learned to not trust them.

* * *

The car stops in the meet up area, which was a field area where people practice archery. Shiro hops out, Pidge jumps and waits for Keith to click clack his way out of the car.  The man waves at them, they walk over and meet him.

“So this is for him?”  The man gestures to Keith, Shiro nods.

“Yes, it’s for him.”  Shiro said. “Where is it?”

“Right here.”  The man tugs on the leash.  “Come on boy, come here.”

“Huh?”  Keith was confused.  Then something came out from behind the man, it was the size of a small dog.  It looks at the three, then it walks up to Keith. He stares at him for a moment, then jumps on his hind legs and puts its front paws on his thigh.  Keith’s face lit up and he got down. The dog jumps onto his legs and began to give Keith multiple kisses.

Shiro stares at the puppy with a blank expression while Pidge looks like it was the cutest thing.

“Isn’t this cute Shiro?”  She asks.

“That’s not a dog.”

“Huh?”  Pidge raised an eyebrow.  “What do you mean?”

“That’s not a dog.”  He says. The man and Pidge just look at him.

“But it is a dog, right?”  The man asks. “That is a dog, I found him wandering around, just a stray.”

“That’s not a dog.”

“Shiro!”  Keith looks over with a big grin on his face, he was so happy, probably the happiest Shiro has ever seen him.  “Shiro I love him!” He says. Shiro couldn’t look at him, Keith was being cute. Whenever Keith gave him those big eyes, they lit up everything. Almost like the world was colored

“I’m glad Keith.”  He looks at the guy, anything to keep his eyes off his little brother.  “What breed of dog is that?” He had to ask. The man shrugs.

“Dunno, thought it was a husky mix, since it’s black on the top and white at the bottom.  I took him to the humane society but they said they can’t take him in, but he’s such a sweet pup that I couldn’t just leave him alone.”  He says, watching Keith play with the puppy. “It was either finding him a home or having the humane society put him down.”

Keith looks in Shiro’s direction with a scared look, he didn’t want the sweet puppy to be put down.  He loved it too much, even though he just met it. He got attached to it, they were meant to own this dog.

“Shiro!”  He whimpers, holding the puppy close.  The animal looks at Shiro, it looked like it was smiling.  “Please.”

“Keith… I don’t know if we can-”

“Please!”

“Keith come on now.”  He didn’t want to put up with Keith’s whining.  Pidge spoke up.

“Shiro they are going to put this poor puppy down!”  She says in a higher pitched whine. Shiro cringed, it was worse than Keiths.  Which makes sense, she was a thirteen year old girl.

“I need a service dog, right?”  Keith asks. “You wouldn’t deny your poor blind brother a dog, would you?”  He pouts while holding the puppy close, the animal gave small kisses on his chin.

“Oh do not pull that card Keith, it won’t work on me.”  He says, Keith glares.

“I want this dog!  I promise I’ll take care of it!  Please, pretty please!” He began to shout.

“Kei-”

“IDON’TWANTTHEMTOPUTTHEDOGDOWNSHIROPLEASE!”  He shouts. Pidge runs next to him and wraps her arms around the other side of the puppy, both giving the same sad look.  Shiro groans while the man laughs.

“So do we have a deal?”  He asks, Shiro reaches for his wallet and pulls out two hundreds and hands it over.  The man walks over to the puppy and pats his head. “So long buddy.” Once Keith heard that he felt his heart race, he couldn’t believe how happy he was.  The man drove away, Keith smiles at the puppy and cuddles to him.

“So what’s his name?”  Keith asks Shiro, the older man shrugs.

“That’s up to you.”

“What’s your name?”  He asks the puppy, he licks his chin.  Pidge laughs while Shiro shook his head, a small smile on his face.

“You get to name him Keith.”  Pidge says. Shiro opens the car door, the puppy immediately jumps in and sat on a seat happily.  Looking at the two kids, waiting for them to come in. Keith sat down next to the dog, feeling the puppy nuzzle back under his arm.  Keith smiles and pets the overly affectionate creature.

Pidge sat on the other side of Keith and watched the teen happily.  Shiro starts the car and the three drove home.

“Black and white, his fur has some sort of shine to it.”  She says. “He’s a pretty dog Keith.” She tells her friend, he smiles.

“Really?  Tell me more.”

“Well he’s got these odd shaped eyes, but they’re big and bright.  He looks so happy to be with you.” Pidge smiles at her friend. “He loves you.”

“It’s mutual.”  He says with a smile.  Pidge kept looking at the puppy.

“How about Cosmo for a name?”

“Why Cosmo?”  Keith asks. Pidge leans over her friend to pet the dog.

“He kind of reminds me of the night sky.”  She says. Keith rubs the puppy’s fur between his fingers and nods.

“Cosmo it is.”  He says, Shiro looks back at the two and smiles.

“He’s your responsibility now Keith.  You’ll have to take good care of him and train him.”

“Can do.”  Keith told Shiro with a smile, he was up for the challenge.  He begged for this dog, he was going to take care of it. It was his new friend.  Cosmo looks at his new owner with perked up ears. He got up and licked his owners face again, happy to know such a kind human.


	4. Blue

The streets of the city were always busy, especially in the afternoon.  The wind has a slight bite to it, causing Keith to tug on his hood some more to cover his cheeks.  He puts his arm back down and sways his white cane back and forth, the other hand holding Cosmo’s leash.  The puppy Keith bought has grown large in size, it’s head reaching Keith’s lower chest, and Keith has grown a few inches more.  Yeah they learned that Cosmo wasn’t a dog. When they learned that Shiro shouts his victory and told Pidge she owes him twenty bucks.  Still Cosmo was a good service dog.

They walked through the streets of the city that Saturday afternoon, finally hitting where Keith wanted to go.  He uses his cane to hit the door, once he found it he puts his cane around his wrist and pulls the door open. The door has a cheap bell attached to it, making a little chime noise as he and Cosmo walk in.  The smell of baking bread and soup fills the store, everyone either turns to see the new customers or continues to mind their own business.

Keith pulls on Cosmo’s collar, he leads his owner to the counter and stops in front of it.  The cashier looks over and let out a huff, but not one of anger.

“Well well if it isn’t Keith Kogane, it’s been a while.”  He says in a low voice, strong accent. Keith felt safe near him and shows his face slightly.  His hair has grown quite a bit now touching his back, bangs covering his eyes and cupping around his face.  He smiles at the man and pulls his backpack off.

“Hey Sal.”  He says. “Got chicken noodle this time?”

“Yeah, turkey sandwich?”  He asks. Keith nods. “So we got the chicken noodle with a turkey sandwich and the usual tomato soup and hot beef, a little spicy kick to it.  That all?”

“You got it.”

“Gotcha.  That’s twenty two fifty.”  Keith pulls out his wallet and finds his card, he slides the chip in and waits for the machine to beep.  When it does he takes it out and puts it back in and puts his wallet in the small pocket again. “Marian!  We got two soups and sandwiches!” Sal shouts.

“Quit yer shoutin up there!”  She shouts back. Keith chuckles, whenever he goes in those two are at it.  He wonders how those two are soulmates.

“So how’s life for ya?  Yer friend still in hi- what have I told ya about puttin yer paws on the counter?”  He looks at Cosmo, his response was tilting his head to the side in confusion. He knows what’s back there, he wants it.  “Yeah yeah, I know what ya want.” He says and started packing a paper bag for Keith.

“Yer soups and sandwiches, also a chunk of yesterday's pork for yer wolf here.”  Sal says as he hands the bag to Keith. He carefully places it in his backpack and slings it back over his shoulders.  He grabs Cosmo’s leash again and waves Sal goodbye.

“Cosmo, door.”  He commands, Cosmo walks over and got on his hind legs.  He pushes the door open for them. As soon as they were out Keith took his white cane off his wrist and began to walk to the park.  The two walked along the sidewalk, avoiding people as they went by. Cosmo turns a corner and leads Keith to a crosswalk and waits for the large group of people to move so he can lead Keith across safely.

They walked across as soon as everyone began to move, then they turned another corner that was more grass and trees and less city and buildings.  They finally made it to their usual spot and watched as his owner felt for the bench and sat down. Keith pulls his backpack off and sets it on the ground.  Cosmo began to sniff at it, wanting the goodies that it contained. Keith clicks his cane on the ground to get Cosmo’s attention.

“I can hear you sniffing.  You can wait till Pidge gets here.”  He comments, Cosmo pouts and lays on the ground.  Keith smiles and grabs his phone out of his bag, he clicks on the button at the bottom, activating Siri.  “Siri, read the time.”

‘Time is 1:03 PM.’  The phone said. Keith puts it back in his bag and continued to wait.  He’s use to Pidge being a little late, she gets caught up in her own world.  Cosmo shuffled closer to his owners feet. Keith smirks and pets the pups head.

They both perked up when they heard running, and very heavy breathing.

“Keith!  Cosmo!” Pidge’s voice rang through.  She stops when she made it to them bench.  “S-Sorry I’m late. Got caught up in a match online.”

“No worries.”  He says. He grabs his bag and pulls out the paper bag from Sal.  “Here, I don’t know which is which.”

“Oh my God!  Did they have chicken and noodle?”

“Yes they did.”

“Sweet!”  Pidge grabs her bowl and sandwich, that helped Keith figure out which was his.  He pulls out the pork chunk and hands it to Cosmo, the wolf took it happily and began to devour it.  Pidge pulls her bag off her shoulders and takes out two bottles of soda. “I held my end of the deal, a coke for you and a dew for me.”

“Thank you milady.”  Keith says and pulls the lid off his soup.  “So how’s school? I’ve barely seen you since you started.”  He asks. Pidge was silent as she pried her soup open and began to eat it.

“Sophomore year is going good.  I guess the magic and joy of being in high school finally faded away because now I’m sick of the place.”  She says with her mouth full, she swallows and smiles at Keith. “Oh that’s right, Keith I have some great news!”

“Hm?”  Keith asks as he stuffs his face with his hot sandwich.

“I’ve made some more friends!”  She says happily. Keith swallows and nods.

“Good for you.”

“They’re great!  They’re both seniors and they’re so funny and easy to talk to!”  She tells him, Keith knows where this is going.

“No Katie.”

“Oh come on!”  She groans. “How did you know?”

“I know you, and the answer is no.  I will not meet them.”

“But Keith!  You need more friends besides Cosmo and I.”

“I’m fine with you two being my friends.”  Keith says as he eats. Pidge pouts and got closer.  “I know you’re pouting and I don’t care.”

“Keith!  Come on, you’ll love them!”

“Not happening.”  Keith said. “What if they bring up this?”  He asks while waving his hand in front of his face.  Pidge sighs and looks down.

“I kind of already told them about you…”

“What?!”

“I didn’t tell them you were blind or anything okay?  I just said my best friend is a guy I’ve known all my life… I’ve told them about you and now they want to meet you in real life.”  She says. “Trust me, they are really nice and accepting people.”

“No.”

“Please?  Just one meet up?  I’ll buy you food!”  She begs, Keith groans.  Food, his only weakness. Even though his personal trainer tells him to stop going out to eat so much, he can’t help it.  Fast food is his life, and Pidge was offering to pay. Keith isn’t as rich as her, he usually takes up the offer. He sits there and thinks about it, what was more important to him.  His biggest insecurity, or buying a cheeseburger for a dollar?

… … …

“Alright fine.”  He says, Pidge’s face lights up.

“Really?”

“Yes, I’ll meet your friends.  But that doesn’t mean I have to like them.”

“Thank you Keith!”  She hugs him. “Oh I love you so so much!”

“You owe me.”

“I know!”

* * *

Keith walks home and flops down on the couch, Cosmo next to him.  Shiro looks over at him from the kitchen and smiles.

“Katie wore you out?”

“Kind of.”  Keith says. “She made some friends at school… now she wants me to meet them.”

“Are you going to?”  He asks, Keith pouts.  Shiro smirks and continues.  “The fast food bribe?”

“Yes.”  He groans.  Shiro chuckles and sat on the chair in their living space.

“Well I think meeting new people is a good idea, you need to make more friends.  Having meaningful connections is important.”

“I have friends!”

“Cosmo doesn’t count.”  Shiro says. Keith stares then hugs Cosmo tightly, the wolf licks his owners head.  “When are you meeting them?”

“Tomorrow.”  Keith pouts.

“Exciting.  Be on your best behavior now.”

“But what if they bring up-”

“They might.  Keith, meeting a blind person is so rare, I’m sure they’ll be curious about you.  Remember Pidge? She was so curious about how you see things when you first met.”

“Yeah… but she was six.  Also she never brought it up after a while.”  Keith points out. Shiro sighs and turns the TV on.  He flips through while Keith pouts and leans into Cosmo.  Shiro didn’t continue with the conversation, it won’t go anywhere.  Keith will still not want to go, but he already made a promise to his best friend and he never turns her down.  Also free food.

That night Keith lays flat on his back in bed, thinking about how awful the next day will be.  He feels Cosmo at the foot of his bed, fast asleep. He turns to his side and reaches out for Black, his go to comfort since he was a child.  He rubs the plush paw between his fingers and feels himself calm down.

He feels his eyes grow heavy and closes them.  Nuzzling into his pillow he worries about the next day and why he even agreed to go with Pidge in the first place.  He falls asleep.

* * *

A loud tune woke him up the next morning, he groans as he reaches for his phone.  He pokes around the phone screen, finally hitting ‘stop’. He rubs his face and tries to clear his groggy mind.  He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. Cosmo saw his owner was awake and began to lick his face. Keith groans and pushed at the dog.

He mumbles to him, telling him to knock it off and let him stand.  Keith slowly got up and stretched his body. He walks towards his dresser and grabs a new shirt, pants, and boxers.  He bends down and grabs a pair of socks. He got up and walked towards the bathroom and puts his clothes down on the counter.  He strips off his old shirt and boxers and turns the shower on. He stood there, waiting for the shower to warm up.

As soon as it was at a good temperature he walks in and closes the curtain.  Letting himself relax under the water. He runs his fingers through his hair and feels the morning grog leaving his body.  He felt more awake and alert. He grabs the shampoo and pours a hefty amount in his hand.

He scrubs his hair thoroughly, making sure it was clean as can be.  He rinses and smiles as the water hits his face. He runs his fingers through his hair one more time to make sure it was all out.  After a few more minutes he turns the shower off and walks out. He takes the towel off the hanger and dries his face first.

He began to dry his hair and then lazily dried his body.  He walks over to his clothes and began to change. As soon as he was done he walks out, Shiro watches him walk towards the couch.

“Morning dear.”

“Morning brother of mine.”  Keith says as he flops down.  Cosmo runs into the living room with Keith’s cane in his mouth.  Keith pets the wolf and takes the cane out of his mouth.

Shiro walks in and sat next to his brother.

“So are you gonna brush your hair?”

“Yeah, but not wet.  I hate it when the wet hair touches my shoulders.”  He says while playing with his hair. Shiro rolls his eyes and pets the wolf that was at his side.

“Yeah but you should get ready to meet Pidge and her friends.  She kept calling me this morning telling me to remind you about today.”

“Oh God, why is she obsessing over this?”  Keith asks as he throws his head back to yell at the ceiling.

“Cause she loves you and wants you to be happy with many friends.”  He reminds his little brother. Keith pouts and glares at whatever was in front of him.  He doesn’t need anymore friends, he doesn’t like people. He doesn’t trust them. When did his best friend decide to make more friends?  She was a lot like him, hating everyone and everything they came into contact with.

He got up to clean himself up more, at least he wants to look decent.  He grabs his hoodie and puts it over his eyes. He picks up his cane and Cosmo’s leash, he pats his leg after that.

“Cosmo, time to go.”  He calls, Cosmo hops on his feet and runs to his owners side.  Keith attaches the leash to his collar and walks out the door. Shiro waves to his brother, knowing well he wouldn’t see, but Keith probably knows what he’s doing and does not appreciate it.

* * *

“So when is your friend going to be here, we’ve been waiting for nearly twenty minutes.”

“Relax Hunk, he’ll show up… he better.”  Pidge grumbles under her breath. Pidge had invited her two new friends to hang out and hopefully to meet her best friend who hasn’t shown up yet.  She kept telling them over and over that he’ll show up soon, but Keith is running late for some odd reason. It was unlike him to be late to anything.  She knows why he is, trying to stall the inevitable.

“Is this friend always so late?”

“No, which is pissing me off.”  She growls. Pidge couldn’t do anything about it and played on her phone.

“So what’s he like again?”  Hunk asks.

“He’s pretty quiet, it’ll take a bit to break him out of his shell.”  She says. “But once you get him started he tends to be quite the chatterbox.  Also he is a big softy, especially about his dog.”

“He has a dog?!”

“Yes Hunk, and yes you will see it.  He brings him everywhere.” Pidge says happily.

“Anything else?”  Her other friend asks.  “Like I don’t know, his status or something?”  That question made Pidge’s face drop. She looks down at her hands and began to twirl her thumbs.

“A-About that…”  She waited a moment before she spoke.  “Can you guys… you know, not bring up soulmates?”  That question made her friends raise a confused eyebrow.  “That’s a touchy subject for him, he’s never liked the idea of having a soulmate.  I don’t know the full story, but he hates it when people bring it up.”

“Are you serious?”  Her friend asks. “Fine, I guess we can cut the one thing everyone talks about out of our daily conversation.”

“Sorry guys, but he doesn’t have any friends besides me and I want him to make more.  So for a while, just let him get use to you guys… then maybe you can bring it up. But don’t get your hopes up.”  She says. “Also… he’s different… so be nice.”

“Yes Pidge, we promise to be nice to him.  We both desperately want to meet him, remember?  I mean Lance wouldn’t shut up about him for a week.”

“I was curious!”  He defends himself.  “I mean, our Pidgey has a mystery friend we know nothing about and I want to know why she loves talking about him so much.”

“Ah shut it you big grey turd.”  She teases. “I told you enough, he can tell you the rest when he gets here.”  As soon as she said that her phone rang, the i.d came on the screen. She smiles.  “Speak of the devil.”

She got up and walks away for a sec, answering the phone.  “Do not tell me you bailed.” She said in a cold voice.

“You know the answer already.”  Keith says in a tired voice, she smiles.  She has him around her cute little finger.  “I just called to tell you I’m on my way… as soon as Cosmo tells me it’s okay to move.”

“Caught at a traffic light?”

“Yeah, it’s busy in this part of town.  I’m trying not to be late, I swe- yes he’s my service dog.  Well I know he’s big, I’m not an idiot!” He says over the phone.  Pidge laughs as she hears Keith complain to the stranger. “God he’s tame, fucking... leave me alone.  Prick.” He grumbles.

She waits for a bit before he spoke up again.  “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Got it.”  She says with a smile.  “So do you want a cheeseburger here for you?”

“The biggest one.”  He says. “And a coke, also a few of those cheese curds.”

“You’re the boss.”  She tells him. “See you in a few.”  She hangs up and walks up to her friends.  “Okay so he’s running a bit late-”

“A bit is an understatement.”

“Quiet.  He’ll be here in a few, but we can order before he gets here.”

“Oh thank the heavens!  I am starving!” The bigger one runs in, his smaller friend squeaks.

“Hunk buddy!  Wait for me!” He runs after him.  Pidge rolls her eyes and follows them inside so she can get both hers and Keith’s food.  They all ordered something and sat down outside again. Waiting for their number to show up on the screen so they can go get it.

The two got their food first, Pidge pouts as her bigger friend eats and her other pal was inside grabbing his.  However her mood changed when she saw a big fuzzy creature walking up and an edgy looking man walking behind with a cane clicking around.  She smiles and ran out of her seat.

She runs towards Keith, Hunk watching.  Pidge wraps her arms around him, both began to laugh, then Cosmo jumps on her and licks her head, happy to see her as well.  Lance walks up and raised an eyebrow.

“Guessing that’s the friend?”

“I guess.”  Hunk answers his friend’s question.  They watch Pidge lead him over to their table, practically dragging him over.  Hunk and Lance first notice the giant dog this guy owned. They were scared of it.

“T-That’s a dog?”  Hunk asks. “He’s… a big one.”

“Oh Cosmo?”  Pidge asks. “Yeah Cosmo is a wolf.”

“Wolf?!”  Lance jumps onto Hunk, he holds his tiny friend.  Keith raised an eyebrow upon hearing that.

“Did someone just kick you in the nuts?  What was that?” He asks, Pidge broke out laughing.

“See?  You do squeak a lot!”

“Zip yer lips.”  Lance pouts. Hunk puts his friend down and Lance sat down.  “So… this is the mysterious Keith we’ve heard about?” He gives him the quick look up.  “Wow… you even look mysterious. Do you have a face?”

“Do you see my nose and mouth?”

“Barely.”

“Then that answered your question.”  Keith said as he sat down, Cosmo sat next to him and looks happily at the new people he was near.

“Okay so introductions are in order!”  Pidge claps. “Keith, this is Lance and Hunk.  Lance, say hi.”

“Wait why?”  Lance asks.

“Okay, Lance is the squeaky one.”  Keith said, Pidge nods.

“Yeah, Hunk say hi.”

“Hello.”

“And he’s the deep one.”

“Got it.  Hunk, Lance, this is Keith!”  She says as she gestures to him, he gave them a two fingered salute.  “And this wolf is his service dog, Cosmo. And yes he is trained.” Pidge tells them.

“Nice to finally meet you Keith, Pidge here just wouldn’t shut up about you.”  Hunk says, Keith smirks and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Oh really?”

“Shut up, I want you to make more friends.”

“I’m here for food, where is it?”  He asks in a teasing manner.

“They’re making it right now, just wait and talk to these two dorks.”  She gestures to them. Lance stayed quiet while Hunk tried to start a conversation.

“So… how old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“Oh, Lance and I are seventeen years old.”  Hunk said, Keith said nothing to that. He didn’t know why Hunk brought up age, seems pointless.  “So um… what’s your favorite songs?”

“I listen to anything.”

“Favorite food?”

“Fast food.”

“Um… animal?”

“Cosmo.”  He responds.  “We done with this game?”

“Uh… yeah.”  Hunk looks down, talking with Keith was awkward.  Mainly because he didn’t talk. He nudges Lance to speak up, he looks at Hunk with a raised eyebrow.  He doesn’t know what to talk about.

“So Keith, you like movies?”  Lance asked. “Cause Hunk and I were planning on going to one today, and he wanted to ask if you and Pidge would like to join us.”

“You mean like… a theater?”

“Yeah a theater, what you’ve never been to one?”  He asks. Keith frowns and turns his head away.

“I don’t care for them.”  He says. Lance gasps at that.

“But everyone likes movies!  They have big screens, surround sound, and popcorn!”  He says. “How can one not like movies!”

“I just don’t care for theaters.”  Keith admits. “Also I’m not a movie fan.”

“Okay, I see what must be done.  I must explain why theaters are great.”  He says, Hunk pouts and slouches, like he’s heard this argument plenty of times.  Pidge got up.

“Well I should check on that food.”  She says, Keith glares in her direction.  Such a fucking traitor.

“First of all, they have all the things I just mentioned.  So cross that off your list. Also they have the newest movies playing, and if you enjoy it you can go to another screening later with friends and family.  They release them in 3D and they are good for all sights, grey or color! Plus they are perfect for dates!” He says.

Keith cocks his head to the side, as to say continue, because this was so entertaining… that was sarcasm, Keith was kind of annoyed.

“Aren’t the seats uncomfortable?”

“Besides the point!”

“Sounds like a deal breaker.”  Keith said as he pets Cosmo, the wolf nudges his hand to keep him petting.  “Plus I’ve heard theaters don’t allow pets.”

“Your wolf is a service wolf, they can’t turn you away.”  Hunk points out. Keith shook his head at that.

“A theater would turn me and Cosmo away, I mean someone like me doesn’t belong in a theater anyways.”

“Blasphemy!”  Lance shouts. “Once we eat we are going to a theater and you are watching a movie!”

“I can’t watch a movie, so I’m gonna just… not go.”

“No!”  Lance shouts.  “We are going to the movies and you will love it!”

“I am not going.”  Keith snaps.

“Why not?”  Lance asks. “Let me guess, you are such a shut in you’d rather sit at home and be a lazy sack of shit.”

“Who’re you callin lazy?!”  He asks. Lance raised an eyebrow and smirks.

“Whatever, it’s fine.  Hunk and I will go. Maybe Pidge will come with us.”

“Huh?”  Keith looks at him.

“What do you say Hunk?  You still up for our movie, the horror one?”

“No, you know how I feel about horror movies.  Maybe an action? I’ll take your cheesy romcoms!  Please something else!”

“But this movie is supposed to be good.”  Lance whines, Keith actually feels left out.  Like this Lance was doing this to get under his skin, but Keith wasn’t going to let Lance get the better of him.  He’s a mature adult, not some little kid.

Pidge walks in with a tray and puts his food down, Keith has never been so happy to hear his friend then at that very moment.  Keith reaches for his food, Pidge slaps his hand away.

“Keith come on, let me hand you your food.  Get your filthy hands off of mine!” She says with a giggle.  Keith smiles at his tiny friend. Pidge hands Keith his food and drink.  He takes it and started scarfing it down. Everyone watches in horror at how he eats, Pidge was not fazed by his table manners.

Cosmo puts a paw on his owner, telling him to chill.  Keith pats his wolfs head and slowed down a bit.

“Glad Shiro taught him that one.”  Pidge comments.

“Shut up smol one.”  Keith points at a window.

“Little to the left Keith.”  Pidge comments, Keith slowly moves his hand left.  “There ya go.” She took a sip of her iced coffee smugly.  As soon as their tiny friend got comfortable they started up their conversation again.

“So Pidge, want to see a movie?”  Lance asks.

“Depends.”  She said as she puts her drink down.  “Which one?”

“Well that new horror movie is out, but Hunk wants to go to something else.  My sister Rachel saw the newest romance and she said it was so good.” He said.

“Anything besides horror, you are a huge chicken.”

“Am not!”

“You screamed when the schools power went out.”  Pidge points out.

“It got dark!”

“So the romcom?”  Hunk asks. Pidge shrugs.

“Sure, sounds good.”  She said. Keith felt betrayal from his own friend, little shit is going to leave him.  “I can go over to this boys place and hang out after-” Keith slams his hands down on the table.

“I’m going too!”  The group froze and stares at him.

“K-Keith?”  Pidge asks. Keith just glares at them.

“Oh?  You want to go?”  Lance asks with a playful tone.  “But you were so sure you didn’t want to go.  Why the sudden change, if I may ask?”

“I-I just changed my mind, got a problem?”  He folds his arms across his chest and pouts.  No way is he going to be left out. Pidge raised an eyebrow.

“Keith, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“I want to!”

“Keith come on.  Don’t kid yourself.”

“Pidge I want to go.”

“And what, listen to the movie?”  She asks. “You won’t like it, and Cosmo will get antsy!”

“What do you mean Pidge?”  Hunk asks, she ignores him and kept arguing with her friend.

“Keith be serious.”

“I want to go!”

“You can’t see shit!  Why would you want to see a movie?”  Everyone froze at that. Keith gave a hurtful look at his friend, she sighs and pinched her forehead.  She didn’t mean to bring that up, but Keith hates movies, he always got bored.

Keith got up in anger, he took his cane out and grabs Cosmo’s leash.  Lance got up and wraps an arm around Keith’s neck.

“Where are you going?”  He asks. “Theaters the other way.”  He says, Keith smacks his arm off.

“Didn’t you hear Pidge?  She said I don’t want to go, so I’m going home, where I belong!”  He snaps. “Knew coming here was a mistake.” He grumbles under his breath.  Lance rolls his eyes and grabs his arm.

“So you have bad eyes, we’re going to see the movie.  You said you’re going so you’re coming with us. No going back on your word.”  Lance drags him back. Keith pulls back and growls.

“I don’t have bad eyes you ignorant dolt!  I am blind!” Keith waves an arm around his face to prove his point.  “Meaning I can’t see at all!” No one spoke, it was an awkward type of silence.

“Who cares.”  Lance pulls him again, right back to the group.  Cosmo follows happily behind his owner. “You can hear right?”

“No.”  Keith said sarcastically.

“You can still hear it.”  Lance walks back to the other two.  “To the movies!” He shouts, the other two nod.  Lance and Pidge began to walk, Hunk behind them. Keith about went the other way back home.  Hunk pulls him back, Keith was forced to go.

* * *

The theater was loud smelled like butter, he hated it.  It made him sick. Pidge grabs Keith’s arm and drags him up to the counter.  Lance and Hunk already ordered tickets. Keith listens to Pidge talk to the girl in the front.  

“One ticket to… uh… Lance what is it called again?”

“The Light at the End.”

“Sounds so stupid.”  She says quietly. “One of that.”

“Okay.”  She rang her up.  “Eight dollars.”

“Kay kay.”  Pidge paid and went up to her friends who wait.

“Uh… same one.”

“Alrighty…”  She sees Cosmo standing there.  “Sir… is that your do-”

“Service dog.  His vest is too small.”

“O-Oh…”  She says.  “Big ass service dog.”  She rang him up. Keith slides his bag off and gives her his card.  She rang him up and gave it back.

He takes his card back and walks towards his “friends”.  They walked towards the stand to order popcorn. Lance flashes a confident smile and winks.

“One medium sized popcorn, bag of M&Ms, and a large vanilla coke.”  He says smoothly, Keith wonders if that’s confidence or just plain arrogance.  Hunk walks up with a smile.

“Um, medium popcorn, uh… bag of kit kats, and a large cherry slushy.”

“High five!”  Pidge says with a cheer.  “Cherry slushies are the shit!”  She cheers, Keith couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of Pidge’s closeness to these new friends of hers.  “So cherry slushy, and a medium nachos!” She says.

“Will you share?”  Hunk asks.

“Mine.”  She pouts.  He gave her puppy eyes.  “... fine.” She gave in easily.  Keith walks up next after Pidge paid.

“Um… medium popcorn… and a large coke.”  He says. They got all their snacks. Keith had to put everything back in his bag before he grabs his own snacks and Cosmo leads him to the theater that the others were going in.  They went to the top row, Keith hands his stuff to the closest person and leads Cosmo to the end seat. He pushes the seat down and pats the cushion.

“Cosmo… ey, ey Cosmo.  Here boy.” He got his pets attention.  The pupper hops onto the seat and sat obediently.  Keith takes his stuff back and sat down next to Cosmo.  The person next to him puts his pop in the holder.

He realizes it’s the jerk who dragged him here, he groans.  He wishes it was Pidge, but that little bugger is in the next seat over.  Hunk was on the other side of her. So the five, counting Cosmo, sat in the back corner waiting for the movie to start.  The screen told everyone to silence their phones. Keith jumps a bit and reaches into his bag, he turns it to vibrate and puts it back.

Next thing Keith hears is cheesy music, Keith had no clue what was going on.  Was the movie starting?

“It’s B!  I know my girl Selena!”  Lance shouts, Keith flinched and glares in Lance’s direction.  “Yay!”

“Aw man, I thought it was Amelia.”  Hunk said.

“I don’t know half of these people.”  Pidge says in a bored tone. Keith has no clue what they were talking about.  He began to eat his popcorn slowly. He ignores the other three and lets his mind wander.  Then everyone went quiet and the sound got louder. Keith wonders if now the movie was starting.

Soon enough he heard the main protagonist talking about herself.  She said she was different from everyone else, she never did fit in.  Why? Cause she’s weird. Keith rolled his eyes, he hated this girl already.

Do people think like this, like they won’t fit in due to them being “special”?  Cause no, you aren’t special. You’re a sad, pathetic person, who doesn’t want to fit into a norm.  Which is fine, be whoever you want to be, but don’t blame your choices for not fitting in. It’s your own fault, also people are assholes and will pick on you.  If you are different from them you’ll get picked on, and it will become your biggest insecurity. Keith knows that too well.

Only ten minutes in and Keith was done with all the fluffy bullshit, he wanted her to get Generic Teen Boy McGee and be done with this shit show.  He was praying for this chick to look into his eyes and realize he’s the one, he wants to go home. This was a mistake, he should’ve listened to Pidge.

“Isn’t this cu- oh you are bored.”  Lance whispers.

“What gave you that idea?”  Keith whispers back.

“Well one, sarcasm.  Two, you are slouching.”

“Didn’t notice.”  Keith says. Lance looks away for a moment, then smiles.

“Let me see your bag.”

“Popcorn?”  He asks, Lance nods. He took it from Keith’s hands.  “So that’s what you wanted? Did you eat all of yours?”

“No.”  Lance says.  Keith heard a light shake for a moment.  Lance hands the bag back and went back to eating.  Keith was suspicious, he grabs a handful of popcorn and sniffs it, hoping Lance didn’t drug it.

He smelled nothing unusual, he shoves some in his mouth and tasted chocolate.  His eyes widened, lighting up. It was good, really good, he never tried it before.

“What is this?”  He asked.

“M&Ms dude.  They taste good with popcorn, why people buy chocolate here.  Hunk likes kit kats with his.” Lance says and kept watching. Keith was occupied with the popcorn now, handing some to Cosmo, who was being very well behaved.

The movie ended another hour and a half later, the girl got the guy and the mean girl lost and yada yada.  The freaking end, finally. Keith stood up and cracked his back. Cosmo got off his seat and looks at Keith, tail wagging.  Lance, Pidge, and Hunk all stood up and began to talk about everything that had just happened.

“Man Rachel was right, that was good.”  Lance said.

“It was cheesy, real romance isn’t like that.”  Pidge points out.

“Well I know that!”  Lance says. “It’s called a fantasy, it’s supposed to be unrealistic, so we can fantasize about meeting our soulmate.”  He says in a dreamy voice. “I can only imagine how I’ll meet mine.”

“At school, at work, in an aisle at Target.”  Pidge says. “No one has these romantic stories, they meet in a normal setting and thus you see color and you’ve found the one.”  Pidge says. They walked out of the theater and into the busy streets of the city.

Lance wouldn’t shut up about the importance of finding your soulmate, Pidge kept contradicting him, and Hunk was being silent.  Keith hated this, Lance apparently wants to meet his soulmate so fucking bad. The fact that he was gushing about it and making it sound like it’s the greatest thing ever makes Keith want to hurl.

“Okay Lance, I get it.  Can we stop talking about it now?”  And Katie saves the day.

“Are you sure you fully get it?  All of my family members who have found their soulmates have had beautiful meetings, it doesn’t matter how you meet, it will be magical.”  He says. “I mean, it’s your true love. Someone who will love you no matter wha-”

“Oh my God, do you ever shut up?!”  Keith snaps. Everyone went silent, looking at Keith with shocked expressions.  Lance chuckles and spoke up.

“Nope, that’s just how I am.  I have a lot to say and I will spread my wisdom wherever I go.”  He says in that confident tone again. Keith faces his direction.  “What? Are you going to agree with me?”

“I think you’re a fucking idiot.”  He said bluntly. He left the group speechless, Keith walked off with Cosmo back home.

* * *

Keith sips on a juice pouch while he listens to random music on his youtube playlist.  That was the only app he had on his phone, the only one he could find use for. He lazily pets Cosmo who was curled up on the floor.  It was an exhausting day, he was glad it was over. Glad to be at home, where he only had to deal with one other person.

The door slams open, well so much for that.  He knew who was storming in, and she was pissed off.  He waits for the inevitable. Rips out his earphones and starts shrieking like an animal, he was so used to this that his face remained blank, which pissed her off even more.

“You tell me right now what that was all about!”  She snaps. He just faces her direction. “You are so lucky that Lance takes everything as a joke!  What if you seriously hurt his feelings?!”

“Is he hurt?”

“No.”

“Then it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not!  You cannot treat others like that.  While yes Lance was being annoying, he didn’t deserve being called an idiot.”  Pidge pinches the bridge of her nose and kept talking. “Keith, I know why you got mad.  But you cannot blame him, he talks about soulmates. In fact, Hunk, Lance, and I all talk about soulmates all the time.”

Keith scowls, he didn’t like this conversation.  Pidge didn’t know what else to say, she just admitted that she likes talking about soulmates with these two yet she’s never said any of this to Keith.  If she wanted to talk about it and be serious then he’d suck it up and listen, but maybe there’s more to it, and that enraged him.

“I get it, I’m so difficult to talk to!  Just go back to them!” He snaps at her. She glares at him and yells.

“What are you talking about?!”

“You clearly like hanging out with them more than me!  I get it, they can actually see and I can’t!” Pidge paused for a moment, then pushed him in anger.

“What do you take me for?!  You fucking jerk!”

“Just admit it!”  He snaps. “You rather hang out with them than with me!  All because they can find their soulmate while I can’t!” Pidge got onto the couch with him and grabs his hair.

“Okay paper boy, listen up!”  She snaps. “Take your unfocused grey orbs and try to look into mine, just so I know you’re listening!”  Keith glares right at her. “You are my best fucking friend, I’ve known you for as long as I can remember.  So don’t you dare think for a second that I would just abandon you like that!”

“Got it?”  She asks. Keith’s eyes softened and sighs.

“Yes, I got it.”  He says. She smiles and hugs him tightly.  He hugs her back. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll forgive you under one condition.”  She says. Keith waits for her demands. She slides away slightly, still in his arms.  She smiles at him.

“That you apologize to my friends and give them a second chance.  Both Hunk and Lance told me that they wanted to know if you were up for hanging out with them another time.”

“Really?”  Keith asks in surprise.

“Yeah really.”  She nods. “They had fun with you and want to hang out again.”

“But I-”

“I know, and I’m putting that behind us.  We don’t hold grudges.” She says as she pokes his nose.  “But yeah, they want to hang out again, so will you?” She asks.  Keith smiles and nods.

“Fine, but don’t get mad at me if it doesn’t work out.”

“Oh trust me, it will work out.”  She says.

‘Why do I feel like I’m making a big mistake?’  He asks himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Off to a great start! Ah true love~


	5. Yellow

Keith lays on his bed, holding Black to his chest and rubbing his paws between his fingers.  Cosmo was resting on the foot of his bed, Keith resting his legs on his dog. He didn’t feel like leaving the apartment today, he just wanted to rest, wanted to relax and let his mind wander.

Mainly because of how stressed he was about meeting Pidge’s friends again, he doesn’t want to see them again, he didn’t want to meet them the first time.  Why was his life taking such a strange turn? Pidge never forced him to meet some of her old friends, who which left her as she got older, but still she never forced him to meet them.  Now all of a sudden she wants him to get close to these two guys who sound like they belong in a comedy show.

He shouldn’t be thinking about it, shouldn’t be thinking about all the negative things that could happen.  But damn, he was having an anxiety attack. He kept messing with Black, suddenly holding him in his arms and playing with the tuft around his neck.  At least his faithful plushie was there to help cure his anxiety.

He slowly got up, putting Black back on his pillows, and stretched.  He grabs his cane, Cosmo hops down next to him and walks into the living room with him.  Shiro was at work so he was all alone. He grabs his phone and opens Siri.

“Siri, read the time.”

‘Time is 9:07 AM.’  The phone said. Keith puts the phone down on the end table and sat on the couch, thinking about what to do.  He has nothing planned today, so nothing to do really. He pets Cosmo, the wolf hops on him and began to lather his face with kisses.  Keith chuckles as Cosmo shows his owner love and affection.

Then the door slams open, Cosmo pokes his head up to look at the door.  Keith sat up to hear whoever was marching in. Low and behold it’s his tiny friend again.  She ran in with a big, dorky grin and rushes over to him.

“Keeeeeeeeeith!”   She tackles him, Cosmo moved out of the way before she landed, even his own wolf was a traitor.  Keith grumbles at her weight and laid there uncomfortably. Pidge laid on him, kicking her legs happily.

“What Pidge?”

“Have any plans today?”

“Yes.”

“Good, cause Hunk and I were gonna go and dick around at Walmart for a bit.  I told him I’d drag you along.”

“God did you not just hear me?”

“I know you’re lying.”  She says and tugs him off his feet.  “Go put on a shirt over that strapping bod.”  She slaps his ass, Keith shot a glare at her then walks into his room.  He puts on a random shirt and a pair of tight jeans, then brushed his hair, making sure it wasn’t in a rats nest.  Then he puts on his usual grey hoodie, making sure it was covering his eyes. 

He walks out and grabs Cosmo’s leash, the wolf runs to his side happily, carrying his cane again.  He takes it from Cosmo, rewarding him with a pat on the head and a smile, and puts the leash on. He grabs his bag and slings it over his shoulders.

Pidge grabs his phone and puts it in his usual pocket, he thanks her and the two walk out of the apartment building.  Hunk was already outside waiting for them.

“Hey hey, finally.”  He says.

“Hello.”  Keith said.  “Is it just you?”

“Yeah, sorry.  Lance had plans today.”  He says, Keith cocks his head to the side.

“Plans?”

“Lance has a life outside of us Keith.”  Pidge points out. “Anyways he said he’d text us if he was planning on joining us.  But practice might take a while.” She says as they walked to the store. Hunk was out of breath after a few miles, so was Pidge.  Keith looks at the two and waits for them to regain their breath.

Hunk wonders what kind of superhuman Keith is, while Pidge cursed him and everything he loves.  Cosmo and Keith look at each other, then back at the sad duo. After a five minute break the were back walking the busy sidewalks.

* * *

Walmart was a place Keith was not very fond of, mainly because whenever he went with his foster family he usually walked with his parents, and didn’t want to be near his siblings at all.  When he lived with Shiro, the “adult” always ran off and played hide and seek with Keith, causing the child to scream in frustration. The worst part was once Shiro kept calling for Keith on the intercom of the store, telling him that he was coming from the heavens.  Keith found him and dragged him away from the poor employees, and thus he said he was never going anywhere with Shiro ever again.

This time it was Pidge and Hunk, they were better behaved than Shiro.  They walked in and began to run around. They left Keith in the dust, Keith has Cosmo lead him with them.  He couldn’t catch up cause every two seconds kids stop him to excitedly pet Cosmo. Keith groans, but Cosmo seems to enjoy the attention.

Finally he walks up with a bored expression and finds the two of them, they were making weird noises and fighting one another.  He didn’t want to ask, he really didn’t want to ask.

“What are you two doing?”  He asks, they look at him and began to move towards him.  Cosmo jumps on Pidge and knocks her over, wanting to play with her.  She makes an attractive noise as she flops on the ground with a loud thud, then she groans in pain.  Cosmo jumps on her with his front paws.

“Cosmo… Cosmo please… have mercy…”  She says. Keith smirks and tugs on Cosmo’s leash.

“Cosmo, knock it off.”  He says. Cosmo hops up to his owner happily.  Keith laughs at his friend and asks again. “So what are you two doing?”  The two look at their blind friend.

“We found some furry heads and decided to wear them.”  Hunk said. “I’m wearing a raptor while Pidge is wearing an eagle.”  He tells Keith, Pidge got up from the ground and puts a head on Keith.  He moves his head around, getting a feel for the large thing on his head.  

He could hear Pidge giggling.  He felt the large head around his own.

“Heh heh, you’re a wolf like Cosmo.”  She says. Keith got on the ground so Cosmo could see him.  Cosmo sniffs the head then paws at it, wanting it off of Keith’s head.  Keith chuckles at his pets behavior. Cosmo kept pawing at the wolf head, he got annoyed with it and tackled his owner down on the ground.  He pawed the head off, revealing a laughing Keith.

The two watched Keith as he laughed at his pet tried to save him from the head.  He pushes him off and got up, he puts the head back and pets Cosmo happily.

“You’re such a good boy, yes you are~  Yes you are~” He cooes, Cosmo licks his face again.  He chuckles as the wolf lathers his whole face with kisses.  Hunk waits for him to stop, Pidge takes pictures and sends them to Shiro and Matt.

Shiro replies immediately with heart emojis, Matt sent a picture trying to mimic it with their own dog Bae Bae.  Keith got up and fixes his hoodie, he tugs on Cosmo’s collar and faces the other two.

“So, what now?”  He asks like nothing strange happened.  Hunk and Pidge look at each other then back at Keith.

“Race ya to the beds!”  Pidge shouts at her friends.

“What?!  No I’m not fast!”

“Which way are the damn beds?!”  The two run after her, Cosmo got off his leash and ran ahead of Pidge.  “FUCKING TRAITOR!” Keith snaps.

Cosmo jumps on one of the beds first, Pidge second, she tackles the creature and began to play with him.  Both snarling and rolling on top of one another, a pathetic excuse of a match. Hunk came up third, wheezing.

“H-How could you?”  He asks in sadness. A few minutes later Keith walks in pouting.  He was not happy with them.

“I cannot believe you did this to me.  I had to ask which way the beds were.” He says sourly.  Pidge stuck her tongue out, Hunk said sorry. Keith doesn’t care and flops on one of the beds.  He lets his eyes rest for a bit, listening to his friends go off. Hunk walked off, saying he’ll be looking at fish, Pidge joins him, telling Keith they’d come get him later.

He was fine with it, he really didn’t want to move.  Cosmo hops on his bed and joins him in his rest. He lets his body go limp, feeling relaxed.  Keith smiles as his mind wanders, hearing random sounds. Like people laughing in the rain, or hearing his foster mothers singing.  He smiles, remembering his mother’s lovely voice.

Keith feels the pillows below his hand, smiling at the feeling.  It’s nice to relax. He ignores all the noise around him, especially the sound of approaching footsteps coming at breakneck speed.  No noise, no indication, nothing. Just a dogpile on Keith’s relaxed body. He yelps and panics at the person who attacked him.

He began to push them, wanting them off.  He heard laughing, that laughing sounded familiar.

“Hello  _ mi pequeño gruñón _ .”  He purrs in his ear.  Keith smacks him away.

“What is wrong with you?!”  He snaps. “And what did you call me?”

“Nothing important.”  Lance says as he sat up.  “You hiding your face again?”

“I don’t use my eyes, so no reason for them to be out in the open.”  Keith says, not bothering to tell Lance the truth. He doesn’t need to know the real reason why he doesn’t show them.

“Shame, I want to know what your face looks like.  Hello  _ El Lobo _ .”  He pets Cosmo, the dog wags his tail happily.

“What are you doing here?  Thought you had plans.”

“Why you asking?  Perhaps you can’t get enough of me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”  Keith says coldly. “I just heard you weren’t coming along.”

“Oh well practice was cut short, so I decided to join you three.  I drove here and here I am! You can contain your excitement.”

“I can barely control myself.”  He deadpans. Lance smirks.

“So cold.”  He says. “So where’s the other two dorks?”

“By the fish.”

“Okay.”  He got off the bed.  “Let’s go save my aquatic buddies from those two.”  He tugs Keith off the bed and the two walk down to the aquatic area.  Keith kept swaying his cane back and forth. Lance decided to kick at it whenever it got close.  He heard an annoyed grunt from the slightly taller man.

He giggles and kept kicking at it.  Keith swings it at his ankles, Lance yelps and backs away.

“Knock it off!”

“Watch the ankles!  I need these bad boys.”

“Then quit kicking my cane.”  He growls.

“Jeez, one: you’re a buzzkill.  Two: How can someone like you have such a powerful swing?”

“You think I’m weak?”  He snaps. “I can prove right here that I can take you on!”

“I’m not fighting a blind man, I have more respect than that.”  He says. “Also I don’t want to damage my prized legs.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they’re amazing.”

“Hey!”  Lance stops him.  He then lifts something in front of Keith.  “These legs are a blessing sent by God himself.  Average men only dream of having legs as beautiful as mine!”  He grabs Keith’s hand that wasn’t holding Cosmo. “Feel them!”

Keith stood there in confusion.  Why is this happening?! What is wrong with this guy?!  Someone save him!

“I said feel, peasant.”  He says. Keith pouts and pats his leg, not knowing what part it is.  He kept feeling around his leg, now knowing it was his calf… or he thinks it is.  It’s smaller and near his ankle, that’s the calf, right? Keith never paid attention in anatomy.

He was kind of surprised though, Lance’s leg was well defined.  He could feel every curve and muscle in them. Not like his legs at all.  Keith felt the fabric on his legs, he pulls on it slightly, then smirks.

“Are you wearing leggings?”  He asks. Lance jumps and immediately puts his leg down.  “Oh my God, you are.” He chuckles a bit.

“So?  Men wear leggings!”

“Yeah, if they want to look like women.”

“Says the man wearing skinny jeans!”

“True, but I have an amazing ass.  So I can work it.” Keith says with a smirk.  Lance scowls at him.

“How would you know?!  You are blind!”

“I know my body looks good.”  He began to walk towards the fish.  “I’ve heard from many people that I have an amazing body.”

“To make up for the lack of face.”  Lance says quietly. Keith heard that and smacks his leg with his cane.  He yelps in pain and began to hop around, holding his leg in pain.

“You are an ass!”

“A fine one.”  Keith says. Lance wanted to punch him.  They made their way down to the fish aisle.  Pidge was staring at all the beta fish while Hunk was looking at the ones in the tank.  Lance ran up and grabs Pidge, throws her into the air, and twirls around. Pidge screams in annoyance.  Lance laughs as he runs around with her.

Keith walks up with Cosmo, Hunk pats the dogs head and watched the other two.  Cosmo looks at the fish while Hunk and Keith talked.

“Soooo what’s he doing now?”

“He put Pidge on his back and is running around like an idiot.”  Hunk said with a very exasperated tone. Keith continued to stand there, till he heard a clink.  He began to panic while Hunk literally freaked out.

“Cosmo no!  No, get- GET DOWN!  YOU CAN’T EAT THE FISH!  BAD WOLF!” He shouts. Hunk tried pulling on Cosmo’s collar, but when Cosmo growled he shrieks and lets him go.  Keith lost it at that, he yanks hard and smacks Cosmo’s head, the wolf yelps and looks at his owner with sad eyes.  Keith showed no mercy, he points at Cosmo and glares.

“No!  You do not growl at people!”  He snaps. Cosmo whimpers and looks down.  Keith glares but stopped his scolding. Lance and Pidge ran back, both smiling.  Pidge was on his shoulders, he was holding her ankles. Pidge decided to hang upside down with a smile.

“So are you two done being yourselves?”  Hunk asks, Lance and Pidge kept smiling.

“Oh Hunk, we’ve been friends for how long?”  Lance asks.

“Do I need to say it?”  Hunk asks in the most deadpan voice Keith has ever heard anyone talk.

“You should know the answer by now.”  He says. “Onward my tiny friend! Away we go!”  He runs off. Keith and Hunk were left by the fish again.  He heard Hunk sigh and shook his head.

“I’ve known that loser for five years, and I still can’t believe I’ve hung out with him for so long.”

“Sounds like Pidge dealing with me.”  Keith said. “She’s stuck to me for nine years and I don’t know why.”

“What makes you say that?  You two have been friends all her life.”

“Yeah, and we did talk about this yesterday… but it’s still on my mind.”  Keith looks down. Hunk waits for Keith to continue. “I-I mean… it’s not easy being friends with someone like me.  I’m actually really boring and hard to get along with.” He stayed silent, Hunk just staring him down.

“Well I just met you yesterday and I cannot disagree with you more.”

“What?”

“Look man, you may be insecure and all but I don’t think you’re boring, in fact I think you’re very interesting.”  He says, Keith was surprised to hear this. “Also I think the only reason you’re so hard to get along with is because you don’t let anyone in.”  He tells him. Keith just stood there, totally stunned. Hunk read him like a book.

This man was actually really nice and understanding, and he thinks Keith isn’t boring.  When he was younger he grew to accept the fact that he wasn’t like everyone else, and thus he classified himself as boring and unlikable.  However Hunk saw him as someone worthy of being friends with, and judging by how Lance was acting then he must feel the same way too. Keith felt himself smile.

He kicks at the ground, feeling a little embarrassed yet giddy at the same time.

“You okay?”

“Fine.”  Keith says.  “Just… I think I needed to hear that.”

“Glad I can help.”  He says. “Damn, next Dr. Phil in the making.”

“I like Dr. Phil.”  Keith comments.

“You do?  Didn’t take you as the Dr. Phil loving type.”  Hunk says in surprise.

“I like hearing all the messed up people he deals with.  He severely roasts them while sounding so nice and sincere.”  Keith says happily. “Makes me feel better about myself.”

“God you sound just like Lance.”  He groans. “Just mention Dr. Phil to him, trust me you’ll have a good talk.”

“Really?”  Keith decided to try that as soon as he comes back.  They did come back eventually. Pidge was walking on her own and the four decided, Pidge mainly, that they should walk around the city and get to know each other better.  Pidge’s idea of a good time was usually something simple like run around and find random things in the city.

Which sometime is fun, that was how Keith discovered Sal’s.  Also her, plus Matt, found a great cafe. Keith likes to go there every once in a while to relax and not be at home with the ninety percent chance of Matt breaking in.  They also found an arcade, Keith hates it there due to it being noisy as all hell, but it was something Pidge enjoyed so he went. He liked hearing her rage so it was a bonus.

They walked around the city talking to one another, trying to find a spot they can relax and chill at.  The three kept making suggestions, but it went as followed: one makes a suggestion, the other two disagree, continue cycle.  Keith was getting a little annoyed by them not deciding. Then he felt Cosmo stop.

He walks towards the wolf with confusion.  He was on his hind legs and pressing his paws up against the door to a building.

“What is it buddy?”  He asks. Cosmo tilts his head in confusion, like he knew Keith always went here when they walked in this direction.  Keith could smell the coffee… well speaking of cafes. Cosmo must’ve thought that they were going to the cafe. Keith smiles and pats his pets head.  Such a smart creature.

He opens the door and walks in.  The other three must’ve noticed him and decided to follow him in.  Keith takes his usual corner spot near the back. It was decorated with a couch that was a dark and light brown, though some customers can’t even tell.  It was bent at a ninety degree angle and had a small coffee table in the middle with a fluffy brown rug under it. It was dark and peaceful. Usually couples go back there to make out and be alone, but Keith usually took it because it was away from people and he could relax with Cosmo.

He sat down and leans his head back happily.  Cosmo hops onto the couch and rests his head on Keith’s lap.  He pets Cosmo’s head and felt himself relax. He heard the other three walk over.

“Woah, I didn’t know this was back here.”  Hunk comments.

“I didn’t even know there were seats back here.”  Lance says. He sat down and felt himself sink into the couch.  “Yep I’m never leaving.”

“Keith, did you find this?”  Pidge asks. Keith sat up and fixed his hood.

“Kind of.”  He said. “It got super busy here once and I told Cosmo to take me to an empty seat, he lead me here.  Since then whenever we come here to relax this is where we go. Cosmo and I have caught our fair share of shy couples back here, but mostly it’s just us two.”  He says.

Hunk sat next to Lance and felt his body relax.  He smiles as he sinks.

“I’m gonna go buy a coffee.”

“Hey, can you buy us something?”  Lance asks with a pout.

“Fine, I’ll be nice.  But in exchange, I want your mothers homemade desserts.  And Hunk? I want you to help me with my history paper.”

“Aw man.”  Hunk looks down.

“Keith you’re already doing something for me anyways.”  She says. “Alright what do you want?”

“Anything fruity, like a smoothie or something.  Anything pina colada~” Lance says in a rather cute voice, almost playful.

“Isn’t that alcohol?”  Keith asks.

“No, it’s just pineapple and coconut.”  Lance says.

“I want a white mocha.”

“Got it, Keith I know what you like.”

“Get Cosmo a water!”

“Fine.”  She walks to the counter.  The three boys sat down in awkward silence.  Pidge was the only one in their group who knows everyone.  She was the one who kept conversations going. They had no idea what to talk about, these three barely knew each other.  Hunk remembers what Keith talked about and decided to bring it up.

“Soooo Keith.  Dr. Phil huh? Do you have a favorite episode or-?”

“Huh?”  Keith looks over at Hunk.  Immediately Lance slams his hands down on the table and looks at Keith.

“You watch Dr. Phil?!”

“Yeah?  Well I listen but-”

“Finally someone who watches him!”  Lance says in excitement. “Okay so I must ask.  Have you seen the girl who thought she was pregnant with Jesus?”

“Who hasn’t heard of that lunatic.”  Keith says with a smile. “She sounded so messed up!”

“I know!  Like you cannot be pregnant with our lord and savior I am sorry!”

“Heh, okay how about the girl who needed like a twenty five hundred dollar allowance to cover her “daily expenses”.”  Keith said, Lance laughs.

“No, I haven’t seen her.”

“Really?”  Keith asks.  He quickly got out his phone and got Siri.  “Siri, look up spoiled girl on Dr. Phil.” He says.  Siri looks it up and shows a few results. Keith scootched closer till he was right next to Lance.  “Okay see the girl named Nicolette?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s her, click on it.”  He says. Lance clicks on it and the two watch, well one listened.  Cosmo crawls closer and sat his head back on Keith’s lap. Keith pats his dog and listens to the episode.  He rests his head on Lance’s shoulder as it plays.

He could hear Lance chuckle.

“Oh my God, girl I don’t have enough money to buy new clothes.  I keep getting my brother’s hand me downs. You do not need a three thousand dollar bag!”  He says.

“I know, this bag I have was twenty bucks and it does it’s job.”

“My school bag was cheaper than that!”  Lance comments. The two laughed and kept watching.  Hunk closes his eyes and rests, his work here was done.  Now Keith was opening up to someone.

Pidge comes back with everything.  She sees Keith and Lance cuddled up together holding Keith’s phone while hearing Dr. Phil’s voice.

“You two having fun?”  She asks.

“Keith and I are watching Dr. Phil.”

“I can see that.”  She says as she passes drinks around.  “Okay, Hunks. Lance, they had a pina colada.  And Keith here’s yours.”

“Yay!”  He took it and keeps listening.  Pidge puts the paper bowl she got from the cashier down and fills it with water from the water bottle she bought.  Cosmo hops off the couch and began to drink. Pidge sat next to Hunk and rests with him while the other two continued to act like middle age women watching some guy talk about stupid people and their problems.

At one point Dr. Phil talked about how overindulgence was a form of child abuse.  Keith started laughing while Lance looks at Keith.

“What?”

“Did you hear him?  He said that overindulgence is a form of child abuse.  Meaning you can’t give your kids too much or else it’s considered abuse.”

“That’s abuse?”  Lance asks. “Oh then my parents must fucking love me!”  Both of them broke down in laughter, it’s a wonder how neither of them spilt their drinks.  They began to marathon episodes. Pidge and Hunk look at each other. They look back and groan, starting to drink slowly as their friends were too busy watching Dr. Phil.

Maybe bringing up that show wasn’t such a good idea.

* * *

They all walked out of the cafe at night, walking back to walmart to get to Lance’s car.  Once they found it they all hopped in. Pidge, Keith and Cosmo were in the back, Hunk took shotgun, and Lance was obviously the driver.  Keith could something cloth like in the back seat. He kicks at it and raises an eyebrow.

“Oh those are my practice shorts-”

“Ah, ew!”  Keith shouts and lifts his foot away in disgust.

“What do you mean ew?!”

“How short are they?”

“Short enough that I don’t like wearing underwear when I wear them.”  He said.

“TMI dude!”  Pidge shouts.  Lance laughs and drove everyone home.  He drops Hunk off first, he waves them goodbye and enters his home.  He stops at Keith’s apartment building. Keith hops out with Cosmo and walks up to the driver’s side.

“Well that was fun.”

“I was about to say the same thing.”  Lance said happily. “Hit me up someday.  We can hang out and watch vids like that all day.”

“Heh, I’ll keep that in mind.”  He says then walks up to Pidge’s window.  “See you tomorrow Gremlin.”

“You two Blind Boy.”  She says with a smirk.  “Love you.”

“Love you too.”  He tugs on Cosmo’s leash and walks into the building up to his home.  He opens the door to his apartment and walks in. Unleashing Cosmo and folding his cane up.  Cosmo ran in and immediately lays down. Keith puts his cane down and takes his bag off.

Shiro looks over from the living room and waves at his brother as he enters.

“You were out for a while.”

“Pidge wanted me to hang out with her friends again.  We went to Walmart then decided to hang out somewhere else.  Then Lance and I proceeded to marathon Dr. Phil.”

“You found someone else who enjoys that show besides me?”  Shiro asks, Keith chuckles and nods. Taking off his hoodie and throwing it on the chair.

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

“Glad to know you got along better today.”

“Yeah.”  He sat down and brushes his hair out of his face.  “I guess I did.”

“You like hanging out with them?”

“I… I kind of do actually.  They’re really fun to hang out with, when they’re not annoying.”  He says, Shiro starts to laugh.

“Yeah, but you like them.  That’s all that matters.” He says, then he pats his brother’s shoulder.  “Keith I am so proud of you. You’re putting yourself out there!” Keith could hear it in his voice, how happy he was.  He gave his brother a bright smile and nods.

He was happy because Shiro was proud, because Pidge sounded happy when they said goodbye, because he took a chance and got close to both of her friends, because he just feels happy… he doesn’t feel so alone at the moment.  He doesn’t know if he can call them friends yet or not, but maybe if they want to…

“So when can I meet them?”  Shiro asks. Keith snorts.

“You want to be friends with a bunch of high schoolers?”

“Why not?  I’m friends with Pidge, and Matt is mentally a high schooler.  Plus they’re hanging around you.”

“You don’t need to meet them.”

“No, but I want to.”  He says. “Someday, okay?”

“Whatever.”  Keith says. He walks over to the fridge and takes out a soda.  He opens it as he sits back down on the couch. “So what are you watching?”

“Dunno, I turned Roku on and have been watching top ten scariest sightings.”

“Why?”

“Cause I’m bored.”  He says.

“Better not come into my room tonight.  Last time you did that shit we had no room on my bed.”  Keith said. He took a sip then made a disgusted face. “Aw why?!”

“Ha!”

“What flavor is this?!”

“Strawberry.”

“That shouldn’t be a flavor of soda!”  Keith shouts. He could hear Shiro giggle like a child.  “Quit mixing fruit soda with my Coke!” He snaps, causing Shiro to laugh even more.  Keith walks towards the garbage and throws the can out. He walks back to the living room and pouts.

Shiro kept giggling like a child.  Keith glares at him, well at the wall, but Shiro knew.  He continues to listens to the TV while Shiro kept making fun of him for falling for his prank yet again.  Nine years and Shiro still finds the same jokes funny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you loved this chapter. I did and I'm excited on where this is going.


	6. Pink

“Alright!  Enough!” A commanding voice snaps.  Keith stops and puts his hands on the wall.  He takes heavy breaths, trying to recover. He stood up and puts his hands on his head, trying to get as much air in his lungs as he can.

He fixes his hair and adjusts his tank top.  He walks around the small personal room and found his water bottle.  Taking huge gulps out of it.

“Alright.  Now back at the bar.  Another round of bench presses.”  The commanding voice says. Keith groans and walks over to the bench.  He grabs the bar and began to lift, not knowing how much was on there, because a certain someone won’t tell him.

“How much is this?”

“If I told you then you’d get cocky!”

“Oh for fucks sake!”

“A round of crunches for that comment.”  He snaps, Keith groans in annoyance. He got done lifting and went on the ground for thirty crunches.  This was where he was every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He was in the same room at the same gym. Working his tailbone off to stay in shape.  

After High School ended Keith had nothing to really do, he mainly sat around the house all day.  Shiro got annoyed with him sitting around all day so he decided one day to take him to the gym. Keith didn’t see why he was going with, not like he can do anything without someone watching him.  As he sat around a tall muscular man by the name of Kolivan came up and was mad that Keith was sitting around at a gym, saying he was being nothing but a slug.

Keith told him his issue and that he can’t really do anything.  Kolivan said that his impairment meant nothing and that if he needed someone to help him then he’d be his trainer for free.  Which was nice since then Keith didn’t have to pay. However Keith didn’t think Kolivan would be so ruthless.

He puts Keith in a personal room so he was more comfortable, then proceeds to put him through hell.  So his comfort faded away. But Keith feels the results and according to Shiro the results are visible.  He was proud of himself for sticking with it, however he wants to keep his physique.

As soon as he was done, Keith lays on the ground and pants.  Kolivan stares him down.

“Our session is over.”

“And so ends my suffering.”  Keith says through pants. Kolivan chuckles a bit and hands Keith his water bottle.  Keith drinks every last drop and takes a deep breath. He got up and lets out a long sigh.  He felt his sore body finally relax.

He goes into his bag and takes out a towel to dry himself off of sweat.  He takes his hair out of his ponytail and puts his hoodie back on over his eyes.  Grabbing his bag and takes his cane out.

“Same time Wednesday.”

“Yes sir!”  Keith salutes and walks out.  He leads himself to the daycare and calls.  “Cosmo!” The wolf’s head perks up. He was surrounded by playful kids who were petting him, dressing him up, and climbing all over him.  Fully allowing the kids to do this. He got up and runs to his owner happily, tackling him down. He groans in pain and slowly got up.

Taking the leash out of his bag and putting it on Cosmo’s collar.  They walk out of the gym and headed home. Home wasn’t too far away, only a couple miles.  But Keith was always tired and his body felt like it was full of lead when he made it home.

He finally made it up the fourteenth floor and opens his door, Cosmo runs in and flops onto the ground.  Keith takes his sweaty hoodie off and lays on the couch. His body is heavy and he hates his life at the moment.

He likes the results but he hates the feeling, he feels better when he’s eating a cheeseburger.  He falls asleep while waiting for someone to call or come home.

* * *

Keith woke up and was eating a poptart when Shiro came in, he looks over and smirks.

“So how was Kolivan?”

“Cruel.”  He grumbles.  “He pushes me way too hard and my body hurts in the end.”

“Well the results are visible.”  Shiro says. “You have a six pack.  I bet your white ass glistens in the sunlight when you’re done with a session.”  He teases. Keith flips him off. “I should’ve never taught you that.”

Keith goes back to eating his poptart and listens to the TV being turned on.  Shiro flips through one by one and stops on a random show.

“This’ll do.”

“Is it scary?”

“No.”

“Good, you took my entire bed last night.”  Keith growls. “Seriously you’re twenty five yet you act like you’re five when it comes to being scared.”

“I needed someone to comfort me, also I thought some creepy skinwalker was going to come in and attack me.”

“Those live nowhere near us!”

“One could take a bus and come here!”

“You’re a big baby!”  He pouts and listens to the TV again.  It was talking about deadly storms. He sighs and listens to them, getting a little bored, because when it comes to storms, seeing is believing.  Like hell Keith can do that, he finishes his poptart begrudgingly.

Then the door opens up violently.  Pidge runs in and was about to dogpile on Keith but Cosmo got to her first and tackles her down.  She lays on the floor in pain while he lathers the smaller girls face with kisses. She waits for Cosmo to stop, he doesn’t stop.  Shiro looks over at her.

“Hey Pidge.”

“Sup… someone save m- ACK!”  She gags. Keith starts to laugh at her.  “Tongue in mouth!” The laughing grew in volume.  Keith got up and walked towards Cosmo, the wolf looks at him and walks to his side.

Pidge got up, happy that someone saved her.  Even though that entire time the two were laughing at her misery.  She slowly got up and hugged Keith tight, snuggling into his chest.  Then she moves her head away and gags with a smile on her face.

“Ew, you smell like sweaty boy.”  She says, he smiles.

“Love me.”  He hugs her, pulling her closer.  “We’re going to snuggle.”

“No!”  She tries to run away, Keith held her down with a smile.  “You’re smelly!” She screeches. Keith kept holding her, carrying her to the couch.  They sat together, Pidge tried getting away. She squirms in his arms and started smacking him.

“Why don’t you go home?  I mean, you live somewhere don’t ya?”

“I like it here.”  She says.

“Matt stopped, but he was replaced by you.”  He groans. She giggles and claps her hands, then was smothered by Keith yet again.  She gags yet again. Cosmo hops up and sat on the other side.

She was surrounded by a smelly dog, and a smelly guy.  Poor Katie, she was living in every girls worst nightmare.

* * *

The streets were busy with adults to and from work, teens who just got out of school, kids who were running around with their parents, the elderly with nothing to do, and the occasional shifty person you didn’t talk to.  Keith adjusts his hood as he walks down the sidewalk with Pidge and Cosmo. They talked about normal things, like how their day went so far. She seemed to have a pretty rough day from the sound of it.

“Like I swear, if I have to explain it one more time to her, I’m gonna lose my mind!”

“Up in here, up in here.”  Keith sings silently, Pidge heard it.

“You think you’re funny.”  She snaps, he chuckles a bit.  “But seriously, I hate having her as a partner.  I am hating this year so far.”

“It’s barely September.”  Keith points out. She said nothing, Keith knew that meant she was pouting.  “Alright, it’s awful. You’re going to have an awful year because boo hoo you have to work with some stupid chick in science.”

“I sense sarcasm.”  She nudges him with her hip.  He smiles as she continues. “Also Hunk and Lance had to go to some Senior speech class so I didn’t see them today.”

“Aw I hated that class!”

“How bad was it?”

“You have to write a speech about a topic that’s important to you.  I ended up talking about Shiro.”

“Aw.”  She thought that was sweet.

“People thought that he was my soulmate!”

“Aw…”  She made a disgusted noise.

“Yeah, even though I stated that he was someone who took me in as a “brother”.  I swear people are so obsessed with love and romance, it loses all meaning when that’s all you fucking care about.”

“I know what you mean.”  Pidge says. “I started hanging out with those two, next thing you know all the girls in my class were starting to ask me which one my soulmate was.  Hoping it wasn’t the cute one. I still can’t tell which one is the cute one.” She admits, Keith chuckles.

They continued down the sidewalk, passing multiple characters, till Pidge heard her phone go off.  Her brother texted her.

“What is it?”  Keith asks, facing her direction with curiosity.

“It’s Matt, he’s at the mall right now.  Guessing he’s with Silver.”

“Hm.”  Keith nods, not really caring where Matt was at the moment.  He was an adult, he takes care of himself. Also it’s not like he never hears from him anymore, the guy came over last week to bug Shiro.  The two ended up drunk and passed out in the living room, Keith was so glad that day when he got about four hours of sleep… on a Thursday night.  That Friday was literal hell.

However Pidge thought it’d be nice to go see him.  He was out of the house, so Pidge and Matt tend to try and meet up when he’s free.  The two make the long journey to the mall, the small girl was starting to regret it.  Keith just wishes they picked a different day to do this.

* * *

The mall was loud and crowded, but Keith kind of liked it.  Mainly because everything felt different. Every store they went into wasn’t like the others, it was a nice place to go if you had literally nothing better to do.  They walked onto an escalator and went to the second floor. Pidge grabs Keith’s arm and ran to the bright store, if you could see color it was an odd melon color with stripes that sold chic items.  Basically every basic girls dream store.

Matt was in there talking to two of the female employees when Pidge came running in, Keith and Cosmo behind her.  She runs up with her arms out.

“Matt!”  She calls, he turns and accepts the embrace with a smile.

“Katie!”  The two twirl.  He puts her down and pats her head.  “Didn’t think you’d actually come. How are ya?”

“Good, you asked me this last week.”

“I know, but I don’t get to see you often anymore.  Hey Keith.”

“Sup.”  He waves.  Matt stood up, almost the same height as Keith.  He was a lot different since he graduated. He got contacts for one thing, also his hair grew out a bit.  Instead of cutting it he either wears it down or puts it up. It wasn’t very long, the tips barely hit his shoulder.

“Pidge!”  A bright voice spoke up, Pidge waves.

“Hey Nyma.”  Nyma was one of the workers there.  According to Pidge, she looked like a literal angel, even in grey.  Nyma was usually cold to strangers, but once you get to know her you realize she’s actually a real sweetheart.

“It’s nice to see you again, you too Keith.  I barely see you since graduation. Rolo come say hi.”  She says. Rolo held his hand up from the counter. Rolo was the poor sap who was a male worker who was also Nyma’s soulmate.  Keith always thought he hated working there, and just so. Looking like a literal rebel in a melon uniform.

The other girl in the group was Silver, or that was her nickname.  Keith never learned her real name, so he just assumes it’s either bad, or Silver was just a lot cooler.  As her names suggests, she has silver colored hair. That’s all Keith knows about her look wise, he doesn’t even know what that looks like. She was always described as being very attractive.

Besides her looks she was just calm and quiet.  Very reserved and kept to herself. And somehow the universe puts her with Matt… Matt of all people.

“Hey Silver!”  Pidge ran up and hugged her, her quiet voice spoke up.

“Hello Katie.”  She lightly hugs Pidge back.  “How are you recently?”

“Good, I hate High School.  But I’ve made more friends and it’s decent.”  Pidge says.

“You hate High School?”  Nyma asks. “But I loved it, it’s way more fun than community college.”  She says with a pout. “The only upside to graduating was meeting my bestest friend in the whole wide world!”  She says and hugs Silver, the older woman smiles and pats her hand.

Keith assumes that Silver just surrounds herself with people not like her at all.  It reminds him of his recent encounters with Pidge’s friends. The girls continued to talk while Matt spoke with Keith.  Rolo listening in because having other men in the store was a blessing.

“So how are you?  Still hate showing your face I see.”  Matt teases. Keith lets his hood down to give him a look.  Matt laughs. “Where you looking buddy? Seems like you’re giving that random person over there the stink eye.”

“Listen here you-”

“A little to your right Keith.”  Rolo says. Keith moves a little to the right.  “There ya go.”

“Listen here you shit!”  He starts, Matt bursts out laughing.  Keith starts to chuckle, Matt has a contagious laugh.  Keith wanted him to shut up, but he couldn’t get the words out.  The girls stop their conversation and look at the boys who were laughing.

“What are you two laughing about?”  Nyma asks.

“Keith- Keith can’t-”  Matt tried speak.

“Shut up, I can’t tell where you are specifically!”

“You are nineteen, almost twenty, and you still can’t find someone through their voice?”

“Oh piss off Matt!”

“A little to the left.”

“Yeah you’re yelling at me buddy.”  Rolo says, Keith turns red and points at Matt again.  He giggles and pinches his cheek.

“Aw, you’re turning red~”

“Curse you and finding your soulmate!”  He hisses. Silver made a peace sign, saying ‘ey that’s me’.  But Keith can’t see it. Everyone else laughs, Pidge runs over and grabs Keith’s arm.

“Singles club, y’all can’t talk to us.  Cosmo, come here and join us!” She calls the wolf, he walks up obediently.  Looks at the others with a tilted head, looking adorable.

“That dog always looks like it’s smiling.”  Nyma points out. Cosmo’s tail began to wag happily, knowing their talking about him.  Keith pats his head and smiles at him, the wolf nudges his hand, wanting the petting to continue.

The two stayed and hung out a little longer, however the three had to get back to work.  Pidge and Keith left, Matt was overdramatic and said he’d be back for Silver someday, which was that night since they live together.  Keith feels so bad for her, imagine having such an over the top soulmate.

The three walked out of the mall together.  Pidge and Matt went home while Keith was lead by Cosmo back to their apartment.  They make it back and went up, only to find Matt made it back before them, curse him for having a car.

He waves at him while he walks to his room.  He takes off his bag and his jacket, then folding his cane up and putting it down on his desk.  He fluffs his hair and rests on his bed. Kicking off his shoes and rubbing his feet, being sore from moving.

“Maybe I should invest in those Dr. Scholls foot massagers I keep hearing about.  My feet are killing me.” He tells Cosmo, the wolf looks at him with curiosity, wondering what massagers were.

Keith stood up and walks back into the living room, Shiro was suddenly in there playing with a simon.  He was doing well keeping up with the color patterns. Keith sat down on the couch next to the two and listens to the simon go _beep beep boop_.  He rests his eyes, happy to be home and to finally sit and relax.  Sure it was nice to talk to Matt, even though he was basically the male version of Pidge, and ever since Matt met Silver the workers at the store love talking to him.

The only reason Keith was so calm around them was that they all found their significant other and don’t give him a hard time about his sight.  Hell the first time he met those three both Silver and Nyma were cooeing about Cosmo while Rolo talked about random crap he deals with in the store.  Keith gets a kick out of those stories, guess the saying ‘ _the customers always right_ ’ rings false.

Everything was nice and calm, Keith drifting off into a peaceful rest, till Matt decided to be himself and attack Keith.  Putting the poor guy in a headlock. Keith began to thrash and hiss like an animal. That never worked as a kid, yet he continues to try and intimidate.

Matt looks over at Shiro playing with the simon, ignoring his brother’s struggle completely.  Matt watches Shiro play for a bit, the bigger man content with life. Then Matt reaches over with a smile.

“Gren.”  He says as he pushes the green button.  The simon made a buzzing noise indicating he lost.  Shiro closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“Matt…”  He suddenly lifts the simon up with the intention of hitting him.  “This is where I disown you!” Matt quickly got up, carrying Keith bridal style as he runs away.  Knowing full well Shiro will use this as an excuse to hit both him and Keith. Hey he never gets to rough house with his brother due to social standards, no one wants to be seen as the guy who picks on the disabled.

The three ran around the apartment, one in panic, the other in anger, the last one wondering why he’s being carried.

* * *

The next day Pidge roams the halls, she was tired thanks to staying up.  Also she has a paper to write and a project to finish because her partner won’t do any of it.  This is why she lone wolfs all her projects, screw people. She’ll do it herself if she has to.

“Pidgey~”  Someone sings, Pidge groans.  She knows that sing song voice anywhere, also no one else really calls her “Pidgey” accept for one person.

“What do you want ya big grey noodle?”  She asks, Lance gasps on offense.

“How dare you!”  He says. “I grace you with my presence and this is how you treat me?  Rude.” He tells her with the sass of a ‘man’. Hand on hip and everything.

“What do you want Lance?  I have to get to class.”

“And I have to get to the library, but that’s not important.”

“If you are planning on making me late to my literacy class I will kill you.  Literacy is my worst subject.”

“Thought it was gym.”

“My competitive nature keeps it from being the worst.  Now out with it.”

“Well Hunk and I want to know if you have Keiths phone number.”

“You want his number?”  She asks, Lance nods.

“Both Hunk and I want it.  I need it in case I decide I want another stupid people marathon.”  He tells her. Pidge groans.

“Ask me later-”

“Aw, come on.”  He pouts. “I had to track you down, even running through the underclass hallway.  I think my efforts should be rewarded.”

“Yes, cause I’m sure walking around this hallway was difficult for you.”  She sassed, Lance nods.

“It is.  A literal sex magnet like me showing myself off, gracing the underclassmen with this beauty.  It’s hard to try and avoid their gazes.”

“Oh I completely forgot you’re a total snack.”  She deadpans.

“My beauty is both a blessing and a curse.  So number?” He asks sweetly, Pidge groans.

“Fine.”  She took out a pen.  “Arm.”

“Yay!”  He cheers and pulls his hoodie sleeve up as she scribbles the number down.  “Thank you Pidgey!”

“Can I get to class now?”

“I can walk you to class.  Your literacy teacher is my coach, she likes me.  So I can let you off the hook.”

“You better hope she does.”  She hisses and walks with him to class.

* * *

Keith was listening to the TV while he messes with the hem of his shirt.  It had ridges and felt weird under his fingers. The TV was going off about something, some guy cheated.  Keith assumes he’s on soap operas. Hopefully they’ll be over soon, he doesn’t care about that mushy bullshit.

Then he hears a phone go _ding_ and jumps.  He looks around, wondering if Shiro forgot his phone.  He looks around where Shiro usually puts it. It wasn’t there, he quirks a brow.  Getting up and walking to Shiro’s room, exploring the slightly messy room, trying to find it.  Patting every surface and even the floor. Checking his brother’s clothes to see if it’s in any pockets.  Nothing.

He walks back out to hear another ding, he looks around for it.  Then it came from his room. He walks into his room and grabs his phone.  It couldn’t be his, everyone who has his number calls him. It has to be a wrong number.

“Siri: read my recent text messages.”  He commands the phone. The phone spoke to him.

 _‘Got your number from Pidgey.’_ It says.   _‘By the way this is Lance :P’_

Keith groans, this idiot just texted him.  He didn’t respond, just leaving him on hold.  Hopefully he realizes his mistake. Another sound, and another.  Keith began hitting his head against the couch cushion. Cosmo watching his owner with worry.

“Siri… read my recent messages.”  He says in a rather done voice.

_‘Hey r u ignoring me?!’  ‘How dare u!’ ‘I know this is ur number!’  ‘KEEEEEEEEEEF!’_

“Oh my God!”  He screams in frustration.  “Did this fucker forget I can’t see?!”  He asks Cosmo, the wolf tilts his head. Knowing his owner is losing his mind.  Then his phone started going off, his usual ringtone. He picks it up and answers, the voice on the other side spoke first.

“How dare you ignore me!”  He squeaks. Keith says nothing, completely done with Lance’s shit.  “Keith, I know that’s you on the other end.”

“Lance… think for a moment.”

“I am thinking, I’m thinking you’re a jerk!”

“No you dolt.  Think, why didn’t I answer you?”  He asks in an annoyed tone. Lance thought for a moment too long.  Keith was wondering if Lance truly forgot, if he did then he is an idiot.

“No excuse, my mom has Siri read and write messages for her while she’s driving all the time!”  He says. Keith facepalms.

“Lance…”  He groans.

“Hunk and I have your number now, so you better save us!”

“I will block your number.”  He hisses.

“Rude!  I thought we bonded!”  He sounded hurt, knowing it was him being over dramatic.  “I asked for this number to see if you were down for another video marathon!”  He says. Keith felt his annoyance turn into something else Keith didn’t know. He just sat there silent, which freaked Lance out.  “Okay, sorry. Asking for your number was a mistake-”

“No!”  He shouts, surprising himself.  Was this really him speaking? “I-I’m sorry… truly.  Just… just… God I’ve never done this before.”

“Done what before?”  Lance asks over the phone, sounding sincere.

“Nothing.”  Keith shakes it off, not wanting to drag Lance in his issues.  Only Shiro knows why he’s a mess, not even Pidge knows the truth.  “You really want to hang out with me again?”

“Uh yeah?”  Lance says that like it was a question.  “Both Hunk and I want to hang out with you.  We actually like you, ya know.” He says. “So are you down for another marathon or not?”

“Yeah!”  He says happily.  “I-I mean, yeah… I would.”

“Cool.  I’ll text you a time.”

“Lance.”  He warns, hearing Lance laugh over the phone.  Then someone in the back telling him to be quiet.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”  He says. “How about at that cafe like before.  Around five o clock. Okay?”

“Sure.”

“Nice, it’s a _date~_ ”  He says sweetly, Keith groans.

“In your dreams.”  He deadpans. Lance chuckles.

“I’m just teasing.”  He says. “See ya later.”  He hangs up. Keith puts his phone down then felt a little giddy.  He was invited to hang out with someone, as a friend, a friend besides Pidge.  He’d like her to be around, but the idea of it being just him and Lance seemed like a step in the right direction.

He was actually opening up to them, to these two Pidge forced him to meet.  He looks at Cosmo with a big grin.

“Ready to go out today?  Are you?” He asks happily, Cosmo jumps up in joy.  His owner was happy so he was happy. That’s how pets work.  He managed to calm himself down the best he could. They weren’t gonna meet up for another seven hours so might as well kill time by doing nothing at all, what Keith does best.  Kill time by listening to the TV and playing with Cosmo.

* * *

Keith walks down to the cafe with Cosmo, the wolf already knowing where to go.  He remembers this road and where Keith likes to go. Once they hit the cafe Keith walks in and Cosmo leads them to their usual spot.  The wolf sat down happily on the seat while Keith felt himself relax on the sofa. Cosmo puts his head on Keith’s lap, letting his owner pet him.

It feels weird waiting for someone that wasn’t his childhood friend.  He wonders if Lance would even show up. Would he even remember? Pidge did say he has a life outside of the small group so maybe he would.  Keith wouldn’t mind, he lies to himself.

He doesn’t even know what they’ll watch.  More Dr. Phil? There’s only so many episodes to watch, and they already watched a ton.  Maybe something else? But Keith doesn’t watch anything really, he only knows shows Shiro likes and that’s about it.  God Lance is gonna think Keith is lame.

It really was a mistake to agree to meet up.  This wasn’t going to end well.

Then a strong chocolaty scent hits his nose, and a warm presence near his face.  He hears giggling.

“Hope I didn’t keep ya waiting.”  A familiar voice spoke up. Keith fixes his hood and curls into himself.

“I wasn’t waiting long.”

“Well good.  I hope this repays my tardiness.”  He presses it up against Keith’s cheek.  “My sister would not let me leave. Veronica kept asking if I was hanging out with a girl and I finally had to tell her to get bent.”  He says. That got Keith to chuckle.

“I see _El Lobo_ is here.”  He says as he reaches over to pet Cosmo’s head.  “Good boy.”

“I bring Cosmo everywhere.”  Keith points out. “Remember?  He’s my service dog.”

“Service wolf, he’s a pretty one too.”

“I take good care of him.”  Keith says proudly. Lance chuckles and takes his phone out.

“Okay I’ve charged my phone for this, but just in case I brought a portable charger.  Nothing will stop out streaming!” He announces to no one besides Keith. “So no Dr today.  Instead I must ask, have you ever seen Jeremy Kyle?”

“No.”

“He’s the british Dr. Phil and it’s more out of control.”  Lance says happily. Keith nods and waits for Lance to play it.  It started with a sixteen year old who was pregnant. It was out of control right away.

Keith sat there with surprised eyes, hearing everything go down.

“Is this boy her soulmate?”  He asks.

“Nope, but she claims she’s in love with him despite not seeing color.”  Lance said. Keith chuckles and shook his head.

“That’s not how it works.”  He says through chuckling. They kept watching, eventually shouting started.  Keith leans on Lance’s shoulder and kept listening. Lance leans against Keith’s head and watching the screen.

Keith started to chuckle at the outbursts.  Lance looks down at his head and laughs.

“Enjoying yourself?”

“I like his accent.”  He admits. Lance started to nod while watching the episode.  More violent things happen. Both of them started to laugh or make comments like how annoying people are and how they feel better about themselves.

Keith took little sips of his mocha, Lance messes with his cup while holding his phone up with the other hand.  Keith had to admit he was having a lot of fun with Lance, it was different and it was something new, yet he loved it.  Every minute of it, it was fun. He ran out of his mocha and let’s Cosmo play with the cup. Cosmo licks the last of the liquid from the cup.

Keith heard Lance take a slow sip of his drink, smelling the fruity beverage from his lips.  He tries to move away from the smell, his hatred for fruity sodas made him despise the smell.  Lance looks at him and held the drink up to his face.

“Wanna sip?”  He asks, putting the drink closer.  Keith pouts, wanting to move away. Lance puts the drink closer to Keith.  He gave up and took a sip of the drink, his eyes lit up. Keith took another sip.

“It’s good.”

“Isn’t it?”  He asks with a smile.  “I love smoothies.”

“That’s what that is?  I’ve never had one.”

“Dude you cannot be serious.  You didn’t do much in your life, have you?”  He asks, Keith chuckles a bit.

“Shut up.  I like my bubble.”

“And I pop it, welcome to change.”  He says in a teasing voice.

“This is good change.”  He says. Lance felt himself chuckle and continues to watch.  “This guy sounds like a freak.”

“Trust me he looks like one.”  Lance says, Keith started to laugh.  The two grew quiet as they hung out together for another few hours, Lance had to pull out the charger after a while.  Meanwhile Cosmo was enjoying his cup toy.

* * *

Lance drove Keith home that night, Lance kept asking how the car felt.  Keith says he hates it cause he feels like he’s floating and it makes him uneasy.  Lance started speeding up, causing Keith to push him in anger. He knew the boy was trying to scare him.  Lance began to laugh, Keith couldn’t hold it in as well.

They made it to his apartment.  Keith took his cane out and pulls Cosmo out, the wolf still had the cup in his mouth.

“That was fun.”  Keith admits.

“Yeah it was.”  Lance nods. “Talk to you later?”

“Uh huh.”  He nods and waves Lance off as he walks into the apartment.  Shiro was waiting for him that time, actually a little upset that he didn’t tell him where he was going.

“Well… someone finally decides to come home.”

“Gah!”  Keith jumps back, Cosmo walks up, showing Shiro his cup.  “Shiro… damn you scared me.”

“Me?  Scared you?!  Keith it is almost midnight!  Where the hell have you been?!”

“Midnight?  Damn that cafe is open late.”

“Keith-”  His voice was low.  Keith jumps and gave Shiro big eyes.

“I-I was hanging out with Lance, we were watching videos.”

“For the love of-”  Shiro groans. “Keith I was worried sick about you!  Tell me when you’re going out!”

“But I’m an adult.”

“I don’t care, I’m still in charge.  I get worried, okay?”

“I-I understand.”  Keith nods. “Sorry.”  He says, Shiro lets out a long sigh.

“No I should apologize as well.  You are an adult, you can do what you want.”

“I should’ve told you still.”  Keith says. The two remained silent.  Finally Shiro spoke up, slight teasing in his voice.

“So… you hung out with someone who wasn’t Pidge?”  He asks, Keith rolls his eyes.

“Shut up.”

“You are making friends!  Oh my little brother is growing up so fast!”  He cooes, Keith pushes him away as he walks inside.

“Get lost ya freak.”  He chuckles. Shiro laughs and stretches his body.

“Well now that I know you’re home I’m gonna go to bed.  Night.”

“Night Shiro.”  Keith waves him off.  “Come on Cosmo, time for be- put the damn cup down.”  He says with a chuckle. Cosmo didn’t want to put his new styrofoam toy down.  Keith smiles and pets his wolf.

The two walk into his room, Keith passed out on the bed immediately.  He was pretty proud of himself, and he’s glad Shiro isn’t too upset. Hopefully Pidge will be happy as well.  Keith gives himself a gold star for trying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Keith is learning how to open up and become friends with people!


	7. Purple

The school day was long and boring, Pidge messes with her pencil as her teacher talked on and on about the beauty of the To Kill a Mockingbird.  She was so done with the book, done with this class, done with this school year. Someone texted her during class, Hunk was sending her funny pictures of him and Lance goofing off around the school.  Seniors should not have a free period. Especially those two, they keep distracting their younger friend with goofy pictures.

She finally got sick of it and puts her phone in her binder, it kept lighting up.  She pulls it up and tells them to knock it off. They made a gif of them doing a dance, Lance captures it as “make up”.  Pidge growls and texts furiously.

“Ms. Holt!”  Her teacher snaps.  “I hope I’m not interrupting something important.”  She says. Pidge sighs and shook her head. She puts her phone in her hoodie pocket, vowing to kill them when she sees them again.

Meanwhile the two were chuckling in the library, Pidge hadn’t respond to them for a good few minutes so they assume she got caught.

“Hey let’s send some to Keith.”  Hunk suggests, Lance shook his head.

“He won’t see them dude.”  Lance reminds him, Hunk groans.

“Aw but he’s the only one that we can bug.  I remember the mistake we made with Veronica, so I don’t want to fuck with your siblings.”

“She’s a big teddy bear, you’re just easily afraid.”  Lance says, then smirks. “I got an idea.” He says with a snicker.

“What?”

“Let me go on YouTube… hold on…”  He kept chuckling. “Okay, okay. Get ready.”  He says, Hunk saw what he was doing and began to giggle like a girl.  He got his phone and prepared himself.

* * *

Keith finished doing thirty push ups.  He sat up and groans, his body was exhausted.  Staying out late was not a good idea, he was too tired.  He brushes his hair out of his ponytail then slowly puts it back up.  His bangs sticking to his face, his body feels disgusting, yet he had another twenty minutes to go.

“You’re slow today.”  Kolivan said. “Did you not prepare for today?”

“No, sorry sir.”  Keith says. “I-I just was out late last night.”

“I do not pry on personal matters, but whatever you do so late at night, do it on a different night.”  He says. Keith sat there then froze.

“What do you mean personal?”  He asks. The room was silent, it clicked for Keith.  His face turned red. “I-I wasn’t doing anything like that!”

“You’re face has grown a shade darker.”  He points out, Keith sometimes forgets that Kolivan still sees in grey.  He never cared about finding his soulmate, he doesn’t believe they are out there.

“I-I wasn’t doing that!”  He whines.

“Your face says otherwise.”  He says. “I do not mean to pry on your sex life.”

“Don’t say it!”  He shrieks. “I was hanging out at a cafe watching videos, okay?”  He says. Kolivan was quiet.

“You take me for a fool?  I know you can’t watch anything.”

“I was listening!”  He argues. Kolivan just lets out a slight chuckle.

“Heh, your worried face is amusing.”  He says and pats Keith’s head. Keith grew embarrassed and walked over to the bench.  He decided to start his reps. Kolivan watches as Keith does his reps, then his phone in his bag went off.  Kolivan looks at the bag with confusion.

Keith never gets texts.  He opens Keith’s bag to pull his phone out.

“Keith, you got a text.”

“Are you kidding me?!”  He asks while still doing his reps.  Kolivan opens it out of pure curiosity, it was a voice recording from someone named ‘Hunk’.  He clicks play, then a random yet popular song began to play.

“ _It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you.  There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do.  I bless the rains down in Africa. Gonna take some time to do the things we never haaaaaaaaaaad!”_ The recording said.  Kolivan gave the worlds most unamused face.  Keith, who can’t see it, could tell that he didn’t find it funny.

“Who is this Hunk, and why did he send you a voice recording of Africa by Toto?”  He asks. Keith puts the bar down and walks up to Kolivan, holding his hand out for his phone.  Kolivan agrees, wanting answers himself.

“Siri: Call Hunk.”  He commands, he got the two’s number last night.  Lance helped him type them in and add them as contacts.  The phone calls him, a giggling voice answers.

“H-Hi Keef…”  He says playfully.  

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I thought it’d be funny.”

“I know Lance is there.”

“He knows!”  Hunk shouts, a quiet ‘Oh shit’ was heard in the background.

“Guys I’m with Kolivan right now, I can’t talk.”

“Who’s Kolivan?”  Hunk asks with confusion.  Keith hands it to Kolivan, mouthing what Hunk just said.  Kolivan answers.

“I am Kolivan.”  He says in his usual voice, which sounds deep and threatening.  Hunk went quiet. He was frozen with fear. Lance’s voice came over the voice.

“Hello~?”  He asks in a higher, more curious voice.  Kolivan was still on the phone.

“New voice, you are not Hunk.”  He says, Lance yelps. Not expecting a deep voice to come from the other side.

“A-And you aren’t Keith.”

“Who are you squeaky one?”  He demands. Lance stayed quiet.  “I asked for a name.”

“Kolivan, you’re scaring him.”  Keith said and took his phone back.  “Lance?”

“Who was that?!”

“Kolivan, he’s my personal trainer.”  Keith responds, Lance stayed quiet for a brief moment.

“You… have a personal trainer?”

“Yeah.”

“Meaning you actually work out?”

“Why else would I be at a gym?  I want to stay in shape Lance.”

“Don’t you walk everywhere?”

“That’s not enough to stay in shape.”

“You move more than the average person… why do you feel the need to work out even more?”

“How else am I going to keep my hot ass?”  He asks with slight amusement. He heard a cough, forgot that Kolivan was standing right there.  Keith felt himself grow embarrassed.

“Keith?  You still there?”

“I’m hanging up.”

“Nooooo I wanna taaaaaalk to you!”  He whines.

“Quit whining it’s annoying.”  Keith groans.

“But it’s our free period and we can’t harass Pidgey!”  He argues.

“I don’t care, play a game on the computer or read a book.  Just anything else besides bug me while I’m here.”

“Boo, yer no fun!”  He says, Keith could tell he was pouting.  Keith has learned that Lance is very open with his expressions.  You don’t need to see them, you can clearly hear them. Which Keith likes, he doesn’t have to guess with Lance.

“I’m sorry, but like you I have a life separate from you.”

“Bitch I am in everyone’s life!”

“What are you, a slug?  Do you just squeeze your way in?”

“I’d like to say I’m a cat~”

“I’m hanging up now.”

“No-”  He clicks his phone off, and it was over.

“Put this on silent for me.”  Keith tells Kolivan and went back to the bench.  Kolivan puts it on silent, just as he did Hunk tried calling again, Kolivan pressed decline and puts the phone in Keith’s bag.  He watches the younger boy lift for a good two or so minutes, then it was back to doing everything else.

Somehow that interruption put Kolivan in a brighter mood, he was going a little easy on Keith.  He has no clue why the older man was being so kind, not like him at all. Not that Kolivan was mean, but he was more strict, especially with Keith.  Now though, now he seems to be in a much happier, albeit, playful mood.

Keith walked out, not as sore as usual.  He puts his hood on and fixes it over his eyes then slides his bag on.

“Sorry about today Kolivan, I promise it won’t happen again.”

“No worries Keith, I found it quite amusing.”

“You did?”

“Yes, and hearing your conversation with them was quite fun to listen to.”

“Heh, yeah…”  Keith smiles and grips his bag shyly.  Kolivan pats his shoulder and waves him off.

“We shall work on your “hot ass” next time.”

“KOLIVAN!”  He shouts in embarrassment, and then he heard something he thought he’d never hear.  A laugh, and honest to God laugh from Kolivan. Kolivan! The man who sounds like he’s killed men in three different wars, who shows no mercy to anyone, who’s face makes grown men weep in fear.  He was laughing!

Keith felt a smile creep on his face, he walks towards the child center and got Cosmo, like usual.  He pulls his phone out to turn the sound back on, then takes out Cosmo’s leash, the wolf runs up happily.  Leash on and cane out, the two walk out of the gym and into the real world. Where people try to avoid Keith.  Keith heard his phone going off in his hand, he smiles and clicks on the button.

“Siri: Read my messages.”

_‘How dare u ignore me!’  ‘Hunk and I sang beautifully to you!’  ‘Okay I know you aren’t deaf i know u can hear your phone’  ‘Keith come on!’ ‘u put it on silent didn’t u?’ ‘ducking duck’  ‘duck’ ‘duck’ ‘Duck!’_

Keith presses the button on his phone and spoke.

“Send message to Lance.”

_‘What would you like to say?’_

“Goose.”

_‘Ready to send?’_

“Send.”  Keith says.  He kept walking down the sidewalk with Cosmo, his phone vibrates immediately.  Keith asks siri to read his messages.

_‘U smart ass!’  ‘i hate u.’ ‘wait you said you can’t send messages!’  ‘you ducking liar!’ ‘DUCK!!!’_

Keith puts his phone in his hoodie pocket and began to chuckle to himself.  He likes this, like having friends. He wish he did this in High School, or any part of his life.  Hell maybe he should add more people into his life. Maybe get more numbers. He should add the people he knows at the mall, they do seem to like him.  Maybe they see him as a friend too.

He should talk to more people, if it leads to these types of conversations.  He kept walking, lost in his own thoughts, letting Cosmo lead him.

“Look!”  Someone shouts.  “Look at him!” It’s a girl, she sounded so young.

“Come on.”  A woman, her mother probably, tried pulling her along.

“But he has no eyes!  Look, he can’t see with no eyes!”  She shouts. Keith stops a bit, knowing who she’s talking about.  He tried to act like he didn’t hear them. “Mommy how can he see? He has a cane, but he walks!”

“Listen Sweetie, some people are born different.  Sometimes they aren’t like us at all.” She explains, Keith clenched into his cane.  “Some people have bad luck in life.”

Was that it?  That’s how she sees it?  He’s just that unusual? Can she not hear herself?!  Keith isn’t unlucky, right? He was born, he got to live.

He was born blind.  He lost his biological parents.  For three years he’s lived with an abusive family, making him grow uneasy.  Someone faked being his soulmate. Only had one friend all his life. Grew insecure and trusted no one.

He cried and wipes his tears away.  Dammit, he was born unlucky. He got Cosmo to walk again and just walked home.  Ignoring his phone going off, he doesn’t want to talk anymore.

* * *

Shiro walks into his home, letting out a sigh.  He was glad to be home. He puts his motorcycle keys up and unzips his jacket.  He hears whimpering, looks over and sees Cosmo pawing at Keith’s door. Apparently Keith had shut himself in his room, leaving his bag, and his dog outside of his door.  How long has Cosmo been at the door whimpering?

Shiro walks up, he knocks on the door.  No answer. Shiro opens the door, Cosmo rushes in and hops onto the bed.  He heard Keith groan from the blankets, he was a large ball on the bed. Wrapped up in the blankets, trying to hide from the world.  He sticks an arm out and pushes Cosmo away, the wolf whimpers again. Shiro grabs his backpack, walks up and sat on the foot of the bed, Keith stuck his foot out of the blankets and tried kicking Shiro off.

The older man didn’t move.  He grabs Keith’s leg, he stuck his other leg out, he grabs it.  Keith made a whimpering sound, he didn’t like that. He started fighting Shiro’s grip.

“Keith…”

“Mmmm.”

“Keith.”

“Nooooooo.”

“Keith-”

“Go away!”  He snaps his feet out of his grip and goes back into his little blanket cocoon.  Shiro didn’t leave, making Keith annoyed. Shiro opens his bag and grabs his phone, he opens it and looks at all the text messages and missed calls.  He raised an eyebrow.

“Keith, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing!  Just leave me alone!”  He cries. “I don’t want to talk right now…”

“Did someone say something to you?”  He asks. No response, slowly he shook his head.  “Okay, what happened?”

“I’m different, and unlucky.”

“Who says?”

“Some random lady who had to explain to her child why I had a cane and no eyes.”  Keith whimpers and curls up more. “Why did I ever think that my life would be any different?”  He mutters, however Shiro heard that. He crawls up to lay next to Keith and pulls the ball closer to him, trying to comfort him.

Keith stayed in his curled up position, not wanting to move at all.  The two say nothing for a while. Slowly Keith uncurls himself, he turns around to face Shiro.  Letting himself feel his brother’s presence. Cosmo saw an open space and hops up to lay on the other side of his owner, the small twin bed now full and miraculously still standing on all fours.

“Keith,”  Shiro starts.  “I know that life has been rough for you, but don’t think for a second that you are destined for a life of pain.  I took you in so you could have a better life, Pidge has gone to the moon and back to make you happy. She was the one who found Cosmo for you, and she’s been helping you make friends.  Everyone you’ve met while being here loves you and wants nothing more than to make you feel like you can have a better life.”

Keith didn’t say anything, he kept quiet.  He felt pain in his eyes, trying to hold back tears.  Shiro held him closer, trying to comfort him. They heard the door slam open, then quick little footsteps run into his room.  Both Shiro and Cosmo perk up to see Pidge, out of breath and worry written all over her face.

“Keith!”  She calls and ran towards the bed, jumping right on Keith.  Shiro began to wonder what the bed was made of in order to hold all their weight.  Keith turns to face her, his hood was down so she could see his entire face. She saw puffed up grey eyes and splotchy cheeks that were drenched with tears.  She grabs his face and looks at it, rubbing his cheeks. “What happened to you? Why are you crying? Who did this?” She asks that last one in a dark tone.

“Some stranger.”  Shiro replies.

“I’ll kill them.”  She says.

“They’re gone Pidge, nothing you can do.”  He reminds her, she went back to trying to get an answer out of Keith.

“I was trying to call you!  Lance told me that you weren’t responding after a while and it started to freak him out.  Hunk and I tried calling you but you wouldn’t pick up. You scared me! I thought something bad happened to you!”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry!”  She says. “But don’t think that I’m not happy that you went all emo on us.  Just because someone said something bad about you doesn’t mean you should listen.”

“I was just-”

“Don’t want to hear it, it isn’t true.  None of it ever is.” She says. “God you scared everyone so badly, Hunk and Lance had to drive me here and everythi-”  They hear other footsteps racing up the stairs and into the apartment. “I TOLD YOU TWO NOT TO FOLLOW ME!” She snaps.

Keith panics and pulls his hood up.  Cosmo hears them come in and runs to meet them at the door.  They heard the two boys scream then laugh. Cosmo lead them to Keith, Shiro got up to see who the new guys were.  One of them ran at the bed, the other walks up calmly, giving a concerned look.

Pidge moves aside and lets Lance tackle Keith down.

“Why didn’t you respond?  Are you okay? Did something happen?”  He asks with obvious worry, Keith was very confused.  He literally met this guy less than a week ago, and he’s acting like they’ve known each other their wholes lives.

“Someone was talking shit about him.”  Pidge said.

“Who are they?  I’ll kill them!”  He says, no wonder he’s friends with Pidge.

“I’m his best friend, I call dibs on the kill.”

“No one hurts my cinnamon roll.”  Lance says as he hugs Keith’s face to his chest.  “I wanna take a stab at them.”

“You are not killing anyone.”  Shiro said.

“Are you alright though?”  Hunk asks. “I mean we drove out here in a panic, I called you five times alone I was so scared.  Pidge probably doubled that, and I’m sure Lance texted you fifty times. Shiro checks the phone. It said he had 38 new messages.

“Close.”

“I’m fine guys, really.”  He says. “Can you let go of me?”

“No!  I want to keep you safe!”

“And I want to breathe.”  Keith says. Lance loosens his grip, Keith turns his head slightly to smell something besides Lance.  Shiro looks at the two boys.

“I feel introductions are in order here.”  He says with a smile. “My names Takashi Shirogane, you two are?”

“I’m Hunk.”  Hunk says while shaking his hand.

“The names Lance.”  Lance gave him a wink.  Shiro raised an eyebrow at him.

“You were the one my brother has been hanging out with recently?”

“Yes, the one and only.”  He says proudly. Shiro just stares at Lance with confusion.  Keith was hanging out with this guy? A guy who seems to have an ego, who seems to have a shit ton of bravado?  Seems like someone Keith would hate being near, he’s always thought these types of guys were annoying. Lance must be different, very different, in order for Keith to enjoy his company.

Also the guy was smothering him, Keith just sat there, letting himself get held like he was a doll.  Shiro was wondering what this guy was really like. He looks at Hunk, the bigger guy was talking to Pidge about something.  Keith and Lance would make a comment every once in a while, causing both Hunk and Pidge to laugh. So the bigger guy seems to really click with Pidge.  They seemed like good friends, even best friends at some point. Keith might want to watch out, although he’s currently being held by someone who’s not Pidge.

He smiles, finally meeting his brother’s new friends.  Hell even Cosmo loves them, being in between the group, looking at everyone happily.  Shiro makes the decision to have them over to hang out so he gets to know them better.  They were sitting around the living room and talk to one another.

Pidge cuddled to Keith who was sitting on the couch, Shiro on the other side.  Hunk sat on the chair. Lance was on the floor, leaning against the couch. The five talked about random things, turning on the TV for the use of background noise.

“So have you two decided on college yet?”  Shiro asks.

“Woah dude-”  Hunk starts. “We just started Senior year.”

“That didn’t stop the teachers.”  Keith said. “They kept telling me about colleges I should go to.  Ones that would be perfect for someone like me.”

“One with teachers as blind as you?”  Lance teases.

“Piss off!”  Keith tried throwing a pillow at him, it hits Shiro instead.  Lance laughs, Shiro throws it at him, an oof comes out of Lance.  Hunk and Pidge chuckle at the threes interaction.

“So do you guys have any food here?”  Lance asks. Shiro raised an eyebrow.

“Am I supposed to serve you?”

“Uh yeah?  My Mamá always says to be a good host and always says you need food for guests.”  He says with a smile. Shiro rolls his eyes.

“Welcome to my home, you sit and suffer.”  He says, Lance pouts.

“Horrible host.”

“Keith and I don’t have to serve anyone.”

“To be fair our only guests are the Holts who break into our home.”  Keith says, Pidge laughs evilly.

“This is my house too.”  She says happily, Keith grabs her and tries to attack by snuggling.  The two giggle and fight each other.

“So can you be a good host and serve us?”  Lance asks in a rather sassy voice, Shiro chuckles.

“Well aren’t you sassy.”  He says, Lance winks.

“One thing that makes me amazing.  It’s my sweet yet sexy attitude.” He says.  Keith got Pidge’s attention and made a gagging face, she snorts.  Lance throws the pillow at him. “I saw that!” He says. Keith chuckles and hid his face in Pidge’s shoulder.  She smirks at him and lets Keith snuggle to her.

They continued to argue and take sides, Shiro noting that he was a lot like Lance, just not as flamboyant.  Which surprised Shiro to no end, someone like him should act like that, he doesn’t act like the common stereotype.  

Lance takes the remote and flips through the channels.  Hunk telling him to stop cause a movie he liked was on, Lance kept scrolling through.  Shiro chuckles, okay Lance was practically a skinny version of him. Lance looks at Pidge and Keith.

“You two have any recommendations on what to watch?”  He asks, Keith flips him off. Lance smiles. “Okay, I had that one coming.”  He keeps flipping through.

“I wanted to watch that movie, but no… you ignore me.”

“I did that on purpose.”

“I know and I hate you for it.”  Hunk pouts. Keith and Pidge chuckle at them, thinking their argument was funny.  Shiro watches them as well, it got interesting when Hunk tried reaching for the remote.  Lance shrieks and tried wiggling away, Shiro uses his leg to keep Lance in place so Hunk could catch him.

Pidge watches them while Keith buries his face into her shoulder.  Lance shrieks and began to kick at Hunk, who was still reaching for the remote.  Litters of ‘ow’ and ‘stop it’ came from the larger boy’s mouth.

“Okay seriously Lance, you kick hard!”

“Stay back!”  He squeaks.

“Just give me the remote.”

“No!”

“Lance!”

“And I’ll take that.”  Shiro takes it from Lance and turned the Roku on, Lance looks with wide eyes.

“Are you on the internet?”  He asks, Shiro laughs.

“Yes, this lets you go on the internet.”  Shiro held up his remote. “I go on here to watch scary countdowns.”

“Oh, I wanna watch!”  Lance says.

“I don’t want to!”  Hunk whines. Shiro found a video.  “Oh come on!”

“Yay!”  The three watched a few videos, Shiro and Lance kept making commentary while Hunk covered his eyes.

“I don’t wanna see it!”

“Oooh that thing looks freaky.  Looks creepier since it’s all grey.”

“I know.”  Shiro nods.

“I don’t wanna look!”

“Look at the woman hobble on over.”

“I don’t think that’s a woman Lance.”  Shiro says.

“Then what is it?”

“A creature.”

“Oh, do you believe in those?”

“In creatures?  Yeah, Keith makes fun of me for that.  Don’t you Ke-” Shiro stops, both boys look at him.  They saw Pidge fast asleep, leaning back against Keith.  The others face was still buried into her shoulder, they could hear faint little snores coming from him.

Shiro held his hands close to his mouth, trying to calm himself.  Lance and Hunk didn’t hold back, it was so cute. Keith heard their chuckling, he tightens his grip around her waist and buries his face more into her.

“They haven’t done that in years…”  Shiro mumbles.

“That?”  Hunk asks.

“Sleep together like that, it’s so precious.”  He grabs his phone and took a picture, sending to Matt.  He immediately replied with a screaming picture with heart emojis around it.  He loved it. Lance got to Shiro’s level and took a photo for himself.

“My new phone background.”  He says as he sets it. Shiro chuckles and slowly got up.

“I don’t want to wake them up.  I’ll lead you both out.”

“Aw.”  Lance pouts.  Hunk checks his phone and nods.

“Yeah, it’s getting late.  You have practice tomorrow.”

“Oh you’re right.”  Lance says as he got up.  “Need to rest this beautiful body.”

“Yeah, beautiful.”  Shiro says sarcastically while rolling his eyes.  Lance glares at him.

“You just wish you had this beauty.”

“Ah yes, I’m envious.”  He says as they walk down the stairs to the front.  Hunk had to comment on the long trip down.

“How do you take care of Keith and Cosmo when your home is on the top floor.”

“The top floor is the fifteenth floor, we’re on the fourteenth floor.”  Shiro comments. Keith’s grown use to it, and Cosmo… let’s say that was quite the trip to train him.  When he needs out then he and Keith race down the stairs like there’s no tomorrow.” Shiro tells them, both Hunk and Lance laughed at that.

“Which is why I like cats more.”

“Dogs are better.”  Hunk says.

“Team cat!”  Lance cheers.  Shiro grabs his shoulder and raises an arm saying he was with Lance.

“Traitors.”

“Team cat!”  Both of them cheer.  They finally made it down.  Both boys walk to Hunk’s car and hopped in.  “Nice to meet you both.”

“Nice to meet you too Shiro.”  Hunk said. “Hopefully we run into each other.”

“Trust me, we will.”  Shiro says.

“Bye Shiro!”  Lance waves from the passenger side.

“Goodbye Lance.”  They drove off, Shiro waved till they were off.  He walks back inside and leaves Pidge and Keith on the couch.

Shiro goes into his room and got ready for bed.  Thinking of the new friends, his brother, the dark, and Hachishakusama.  He couldn’t go to sleep that night.

* * *

Keith didn’t want to move that day, his back hurts from sleeping while sitting up.  He lays back on his bed and rests his sore body from the dumb decision he made last night.  He couldn’t help it though, Pidge was warm and cozy. He felt a little embarrassed about cuddling to her.  He hadn’t done that in years, thought he grew out of that cuddly phase in his life. Apparently not.

He shouldn’t feel ashamed that he decided to bury his face in Pidge’s shoulder.  Mainly because he knew that Pidge wasn’t embarrassed about it.

* * *

“GET BACK HERE YOU SPANDEX WEARING BASTARD!”  Pidge screams at Lance, who was outrunning her in the building.

“You’re not allowed in the Senior hallway!”

“BULLSHIT!  GIVE ME YOUR PHONE!”

“No!  It’s my wallpaper, see EEK!”  He covered his face as she threw her shoe at him.  He ran again. “That brings back painful memories I don’t want to relive!”  He shrieks as he ran off. Pidge grabs her shoe and continued her chase.

“DELETE IT!”

“Why?  You look so cu-PLEASE DON’T!”  He screams as he runs into the boys locker room, Pidge screams in anger.

“YOU GET OUT HERE!”

“Make me!”

“I’LL WALK IN THERE!”

“Please don’t.”  Another man shouts.

“Nothing I haven’t seen.”  She says as she walks in. The boys just watch as Pidge walks in and found Lance hiding, he shrieks and ran back out.

“None of you stopped her?!”  He asks, they all shrugged and went back to changing.  He runs upstairs and into a random classroom, the teacher stops teaching and watches with his entire class.  Lance ran around and back out, Pidge jumps on one kids desk to catch up. The class went back to teaching.

* * *

Keith woke up to his phone going off, he grabs the device.  Angry that it ruined his nap, it was his day to be lazy dammit.

“Hello?”  He asks.

“Hey, you do answer your phone.”  Hunk’s voice said.

“Hm?  Is there a reason you called me?”  Keith asked, sounding way too tired to be answering.

“Yeah, listen.  On Sunday we’re going to go to the river and test something before the weather gets bad, wondering if you wanted to come out.”

“Really?”

“Yeah dude, you seemed bumed the other day, thought hanging out would cheer you up.  You in?”

“Uh, y-yeah sure.”  Keith could feel the smile creep onto his face.”

“Nice dude, see you Sunday.”  Hunk hangs up, Keith smiles and lays back down.  He puts his hand down to let Cosmo brush up against it.  Maybe he isn’t unlucky, cause right now he feels like the happiest guy in the world.

Finally opening up and making friends who all like him and don’t treat him like he’s different.  He chuckles a bit, happy that his life was finally going in the right direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. I'm bored out of my mind at the moment, sitting in a waiting room waiting for my brothers appointment to end. Then I have to walk to get to my sister's appointment in another building and I have a busted knee. Sooooo happy  
> (Oh, also: my friend on Amino is writing a klance fanfic on Wattpad. Go check it out, it's called vacation time! by KeekaG)


	8. Orange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I'm working on a vld/klance comic on instagram and it's taking up some of my time. Who knew three panels could take three hours. Anyways I hope you enjoy the chapter.

“And here we go.”  Hunk says as he sees his self made drone fly high in the sky.  Keith stood there face forward.

“Soooo what are we doing?”

“Testing my drone, I know it isn’t as exciting for you as it is for me, which is why I want to add something to make it fun for you.”  Hunk says as he makes it fly in front of Keith’s face, he flinches when he feels it close to him. Hunk chuckles and lets it fly away.

Keith could hear it fly away, Cosmo jumps at it, trying to catch it.  Hunk panics and made sure it flew just high enough where Cosmo couldn’t get it.  The wolf began to howl at it, deminding it come down. Keith tugs on the leash.

“Cosmo, knock it off.”  He says. Cosmo looks at him and kept howling.  “No you can’t have it.” Howling continues. “No Cosmo, it’s not you-”  Cuts him off. “Cosmo.” He tugs at the leash again, trying hard not to raise his voice.

Cosmo kept howling at the drone, passerbys saw the wolf howling.  They either thought he was a husky, or knew and ran away. Great, Cosmo was causing a scene.  Keith hates it when people watch, cause they’ll look at him, or they’ll look at Cosmo. Either way a misunderstanding is bound to happen, and lord knows Keith doesn’t want that.  He’s hanging out with Hunk, he doesn’t want to ruin that.

“Cosmo, hey.”  He tugs. “You knock that off right now!”  Cosmo’s howling died down, he looks at Keith with big eyes.  His tail wagging happily, so Cosmo thinks he’s done nothing wrong.  In hindsight he didn’t know, he’s acting on instinct. Doesn’t mean it’s any less annoying.

Hunk got the drone down and held onto it before Cosmo tried anything.

“So I want to add sound or something so you’ll enjoy it as much as the rest of us.”  He says, Keith puts a hand on his hip and gave Hunk a look, one Hunk couldn’t see.

“Why?  Why do you want me to enjoy it?”

“Cause I want all of my friends to enjoy it, also I’m in a competition with Pidge.  We’re trying to see who can create the best drone, and she says she’s gonna win.”

“Makes sense, she’s a genius who also has access to a lot of electronics and has a brother who can help out.”

“Plus she’s from a rich family.”

“That too.”  Keith nods. The two walk away from the park and decided to chat more.

“So may I ask something, and forgive me if it sounds offensive?”  He says.

“Shoot.”

“How do you see?  Like what does everything look like?”

“Oh.”  Keith sounded genuinely shocked, he messes with his hood.  “I guess everything looks dark, I mean I can see light and shadows.  I can tell when a room is lit or not. But besides that it’s just… well black I think.”  He says.

“Like when I close my eyes?”  Hunk asks. “I mean when I do that I can see the light and shadow too, but nothing else.”

“Like that.”

“Oh.  Neat.”  Hunk says.  “They don’t teach you that in school.”

“Heh, I know.  But I think they should.”

“Yeah, then people would have a better understanding of it.”  Hunk says. “Meeting you made me realize that. We don’t have to be the same in order for us to be friends.”  Hearing that made Keith smile. Hunk really did know what to say and it was like a breath of fresh air. Because he was right, they don’t have to be alike in order to be friends.  Keith nods and kept walking down the road, Cosmo leading on happily.

* * *

The drone thing was apparently a big deal because Pidge kept going on about it when they hung around Keith’s living room.  The two were in pajamas and eating pizza that she brought over. They sat in front of the TV and had top five lists going, mostly scary stuff since the two can handle it, unlike Shiro.

“I swear if you gave Hunk any ideas.”

“What ideas?”  He asks. “Plus he’s trying to find a way for me to enjoy it which isn’t possible.”  He took a bite of his stuffed crust. “Seriously who invented this?”

“Pizza or stuffed crust?”

“Yes.”  He answers.  The two chuckle and kept listening to the video, it was perfect for Keith since it was creepiest sounds ever recorded.  He was enjoying it. The video ends and another one loads, Pidge spoke again.

“So do you like hanging out with them?  Like legit hang out with them?”

“Yeah, they’re...they’re nice.”

“I told you.”  She says in excitement.  He tried pushing her away.  “I told you you’d like them!  I told you!”

“Yeah yeah shut up.”  He says with a smile. She leans closer with a smile.

“Soooo what do you like about them?”

“Huh?”

“What do you like about them?  Cause I can name a few things I like about the two.”  She says. “For example I love how Hunk is super approachable, and Lance, I love his rather easy going personality.”  She says. Keith thought about it.

“I guess with Hunk I like how he’s considerate.  Lance… I guess it’s the fact he treats me like I’m normal.”  He gave her a big grin, grey uneven eyes lighting up. “Sometimes I wonder if he even remembers I’m blind.”

“So they make you feel accepted.”

“Yeah, putting it into poor mans terms.”  He tells her. “Kind of like you, and how you act like you care.”

“Keith.”  She grabs his hand.  “You know I care about you, I always have.  I just want you to have a happier life, you’ve been miserable for a long time… I think making friends and feeling like a normal person is good for you.”

“Didn’t ask me if I wanted to meet them.”

“Are you happy I forced you?”  She asks. Keith smiles and grabs her, cuddling to her as she struggles to get out.

“Very.”

* * *

The next day during freetime Lance lazily watches Hunk as he works on his drone.  He plays with a screw on the table. Hunk takes it and screws it in, Lance pouts and continues to watch.

“What are you doing anyways?”  He asks.

“I’m adding on to my drone.”  Hunk says. “I want to beat Pidge for once.”  He tells him, Lance messed with the drone. “No, stop it you curious idiot.”

“I’m bored!”  Lance whines and faceplants.  “Touch.”

“Stop it!”  Hunk smacks his hand, Lance yelps and pulls back.  He glares at his friend and then goes back to being bored.  “Don’t you have practice?”

“Not today.  So you are blessed to have me as company.”  He says happily.

“What a freaking honor.”

“Okay screw you, I’m texting Keith.”

“You do that.”

* * *

Keith grabs a soda, praying to God that it wasn’t a trap laid by Shiro, and walks back to the chair.  He messes with the can while the TV plays a rom com, waiting for something else to come on. He got done with his workout early that day so he wasn’t that tired.  So how long till something like Dr. Phil or Judge Judy comes on?

His phone goes off, he picks it up and opens Siri to read his messages out loud.

_ “Hunk is working on his drone and I am bored.”  “What r u up 2?” “Please responf, I am died.” _

Keith chuckles and picks up his phone up.

“Siri, send a message to Lance.”

_ ‘What do you want to say?’ _

“You are died?  Guess there’s no point in continuing this conversation.”

_ ‘Ready to send it?’ _

“Send.”  He says and goes back to listening to the TV, feeling the smooth can.  He opens it and takes a drink, it’s Coke. Thank God. He takes a sip and lazily lets one hand drop to the floor, wanting Cosmo to come closer.  The wolf sees him and trots on over, getting under his owners hand and demanding to be pet. Keith chuckles and pets Cosmo, hearing his phone go off multiple times.

After a while the dings got a little annoying so he takes his hand away from Cosmo and grabs his phone.  He asks Siri to yet again read his messages, getting quite the response.

_ “No, I’m alive!”  “Do not ignore me, I speak from the living!”  “Keith please!” “Keeeeeeeef” “My precious bab!”  “My sweet cinnamon roll!” “I ducking misspelled cinnamon roll”  “Oh I hate my phone.” “Y u no answer me?” “Come on Keith!” “I know you can hear your phone, you rnt deaf.”  “Now my phone is giving me shit for aren’t.” “Keith!” “I will keep sending you messages until you answer!” “hey”  “hey” “hey” _

Keith rolls his eyes and tells Siri to send yet another message.

“He speaks from beyond the grave.”  He says and sends the message, immediate response.

_ “No I am alive!  Talk to me my sweet!” _

Keith smiles and answers, the two having a conversation via text.  It was mainly Keith teasing Lance about his poor grammar cause Siri can’t read that shit right.  Lance has to learn that he needs correct spelling in order for Keith to understand, or if he wants the teasing to stop.

After a good twenty minutes Lance says he has to get to class and he’ll chat later.  Keith decided to get him back for all the texts and sent as many as he could for the next hour and a half.

He doesn’t respond.  Keith just assumes he got annoyed, he stops and curls up onto the chair, feeling tired.  Apparently talking to your phone wears you out. He closes his eyes and falls asleep, only to be woken up by Shiro.

“Hey my little brother.”

“Sup.”  Keith said.  “How’s life?”

“Like every other day, boring, grey, and having to deal with a friend who likes send memes all day.  You?”

“The usual.”  Keith responds.  “Or the new usual.  Where’s Cosmo?” He asks, not feeling him nearby.

“On the couch, fast asleep.”

“Oh, must’ve left me.”  Keith said. Shiro sat on the floor, since Cosmo takes up the entire thing, and leans against the couch.  “What memes did Matt send you?”

“A lot of dumb ones about trains.  I don’t know how he finds half this shit.”

“He lives on the internet.”

“True.”  He says. The two went quiet when Judge Judy came on, another show about dumb people getting owned.  They watched/listened for a bit until Keith’s phone went off. Shiro raised an eyebrow at him. Keith doesn’t answer, but Shiro could see a smug grin on the nineteen year olds face.

It grew quiet, the dings finally died down again, only for the door to slam open.  Shiro looks over with a shocked face.

“Okay sure, everyone just slam my door open and just waltz on in.  Why even own a front door?!” He says. Keith hears him and fixes his hood, people are over after all.

“You!”  A familiar squeak shouts, Keith covers his mouth and chuckles.  “I had my phone taken away by Mr. Ulaz! You asshat!” The chuckles continued.  “I’m going to kill you for that!” He snaps, Keith ran to his room, Lance ran after him.  Keith shuts the door and held it shut, he felt Lance ramming into it.

“Open this damn door!”

“Password.”

“We’re not elementary kids Keith!”

“Come on, it was only a few texts.”

“87!”

“A few.”  Keith says with a chuckle, he rams into the door again.

“Quit kicking the door Lance!”  Shiro shouts, Keith pauses. Lance was kicking it?  Damn he thought Lance was using his whole body, he has a lot of lower body strength.

He slowly opens the door, Lance took the opportunity and tackles him down.  Keith yelps and grabs his hood instead of fighting Lance off. Lance stops and pouts at him, not getting off of him.

“ _ Eres muy malo. _ ”  He says, mumbling slightly.  Keith raised an unseen eyebrow.  “ _ Pero eres lindo.  No eres justo. _ ”  He continues to mumble.  Keith wishes he knew what Lance was saying.

Lance looks at him and pokes his nose.

“Boop.”  Again, Keith was confused.  “Boop the snoot.” He sounded happier, Keith slowly got up.

“Get off of me ya weirdo.”  He says and pushes Lance off.  “Hey Shiro I lived.”

“Dammit.”  Shiro said with slight amusement.  Keith chuckles and sat in the living room again, Lance follows and lays on Cosmo.

“So what are you sluts up to?”

“Besides watching you chase my brother down, nothing much.”  Shiro says as he sits on the floor. “Why are you here?” Lance smiles while looking at the older man.

“He got me in trouble.”  Lance points at Keith, who smiles at him.  “So I am here to tell him that I did not appreciate that.”  He says. Keith rolls his eyes and curls into the chair more, listening to the TV again.  “Aw you’re ignoring me again! Fine, I’ll cuddle to Cosmo, at least he loves me.”

Shiro sighs and continues to watch TV, Lance cuddles to the wolf and watches the same thing.  He had nothing to do anyways, or he thought he did. However his phone went off to remind him that he had something to do.

“Hello?”  Both Shiro and Keith listen, Shiro looks at the dark grey boy as he sat on his knees on the couch.  “ _ Ah hermana… no tienes que gritar. _ ”  He got off the couch and groans.  “ _ Lo sé. Ya voy, perra loca. _ ”  The two could hear shouting on the other side.  “ _ ¡Deja de gritar como una perra loca y luego dejaré de llamarte así! _ ”  He snaps then hangs up.

“Well sorry to cut our precious time short, but I have a psycho sister who is upset that I’m not at practice.”  He says. “So I’ll leave you two alone now. Goodbye.” He tells Shiro. “Until we meet again my precious bab.” He says as he pats Keith’s head, Keith slaps his hand away with a chuckle.

“Get out of my house.”  Keith said. Lance let out a breathy laugh and walks out.

“See ya later.”

“See ya.”  Shiro waves him off.  He leaves the apartment, Cosmo hops off, Shiro immediately hops on and stretches his body out on the furniture.  He smiles as he heard his back crack. Cosmo walks towards the chair and sat at Keith’s feet.

The two boys sat in silence, now it was boring.  Shiro liked the quiet, he noticed that Keith curled up into a ball and fell asleep.  Shiro got up and pushed Keith’s hood down, he smiles, seeing his brother looking so peaceful.  Soft little snores were coming from his mouth, he chuckles and walks back to the couch. Only to see Cosmo had taken his spot.

* * *

Pidge sat in her room, she clicks on her drone and watches it fly.  She smirks and films it to show her brother. She was so proud of it, her masterpiece.  She can’t wait to show Hunk what she’s made of. No way is he going to beat her, the champion.

* * *

Keith was walking out of Sal’s when his phone went off, he groans and takes his bag off.  Fishing out his phone he answers and continues to walk.

“Hello?”

“It’s yer gremlin.”

“Oh joy.”  Keith said dryly.  He could hear Pidge growl and pout.

“It’s drone flying day.”

“Oh?”  Keith says.

“Yeah, come to the park.”

“But I just bought Sa-”

“You went to Sal’s?!”

“Give me a break I was craving soup.”

“Fuck you Kogane!”  She growls. “Anyways I’ll have Hunk drive over to pick you up.  We have to pick Lance up from practice but he’s not done yet. He’ll be done by the time we get you.”

“Oh, okay.”  Keith said. The two talked for a little longer then he hung up.  He sat down, waiting for Pidge and Hunk to pick him and Cosmo up. The wolf whimpers, knowing treats are in his backpack.  Keith pushes his pet away from his bag and continues to wait.

He hears a car stop in front of him, he knew who it was cause Cosmo got excited.  He jumps on the car, Pidge started talking sweetly to Cosmo from inside. Keith chuckles and got up, feeling for the back door.  He found it and climbs in.

“Got everything?”  Hunk asks. Keith nods, putting his bag on the floor and letting Cosmo sit next to him.  He held onto his cane and smiles.

“Alright, ready to go.”  He says, Hunk nods and drove off.  They turned the radio on and the two in the front were jamming out.  Keith leans his head back and listens to their awful singing… actually Hunk was pretty good.

The three made it back to the high school and one by one they hopped out.  Pidge looks around and smiles at Keith, who had no idea where they were.

“Is it nice being back at your old school?”

“Fuck, take me back.”  Keith says as he climbs back in.

“You got yer diploma, yer fine.”  Pidge grumbles as he got out, chuckling in amusement.  They waited a few minutes before people started walking out, a group of girls were first.  All talking about the most common thing you could talk about, soulmates. Keith groans while Pidge pats his back.

“I know man, just let it go.”

“Can’t they talk about something else?”

“I don’t know.  If it bothers you so much then complain to Lance about it.”

“Why?”

“Cause he’s talking about it with his sister.”  Pidge said. Low and behold Keith could hear Lance’s voice, and a girls voice with his, speaking with a few others.  Lance and this girl were almost in unison. Keith assumes that the girl was Lance’s sister.

Lance stops talking when he sees his friends.  Hunk waves at him, Pidge stood next to Keith, both standing awkwardly.  The boy got excited and ran at the one person who couldn’t react fast enough.  Hunk and Pidge made sure Lance didn’t tackle Keith down.

“ _ ¡Mi Cariño! _ ”  He says happily.  Cosmo got excited and jumps on Lance, who is still hugging Keith.  Keith tried pushing Lance off, he refused to get off.

“Who is this?”  They look over, Keith still fought Lance.  He looks at the girl with a smile.

“Rachel, these are my friends!”

“I know, well I know this big guy.”  She held her fist up. “How are you bud?”

“I’m good.”  He fist bumps her.

“I haven’t met these two… especially the hottie you’re molesting.”

“Someone help me!”  Keith snaps. He was holding both Lance and Cosmo’s weight.  Not happy about that.

“That tiny girl is my little Pidgey.”

“It’s Katie, friends call me Pidge.”  She says. “That guy is Keith. He’s Lance’s recent friend.”

“Oh?”  Rachel asks.  “He is a cutie.”

“You can’t see his face.”

“I see the lower half, and the body isn’t bad either~”  She was just as bad as Lance. He got off of Keith, thanks to Hunk, and went back to his sister.

“I’m guessing you dorks are here for the drone thing.”  He says with a smirk, they nod. “I’m right, like always.  Okay sis I’m going with them.” He dug into his bag and threw his keys at her.  “ _ Dile a mamá que estaré en casa pronto. _ ”

“Okay, see ya later.”

“Bye bye.”  He waves her off as she runs to catch up to the others.  Lance smiles at his friends, Cosmo jumps on him. “Man,  _ El Lobo  _ really likes me.”

“Probably because you’ve hung around Keith a lot.”  Pidge points out. “Anyways let’s go to the park, I need to show Hunk who’s boss.”

“Oh whatever Pidge, my drone is good.  Right Lance?”

“I was texting him when you were working on it.”  Lance admits. Hunk groans as they hop in. Lance took the passenger seat while the other two sat in the back, Cosmo in between them, looking in between the two in the front.

They drove to the park, it was somewhat empty due to it being almost dark.  If the stories are correct, dark parks are full of creeps and killers. Perfect for four young adults and a dog, they wish for death.

“Alright.”  Pidge shouts as she puts her drone down.  “I shall go first, so if Hunk wants to back down, he can.”  She says with confidence. Keith stood awkwardly, Lance leans against him and waits for Pidge to send it off.  She turns it on and off it goes.

Lance and Hunk gasp, Keith had to stand there while everyone else watched in awe.  Keith held onto Cosmo’s leash to keep him from jumping at it, the poor wolf pouts. He wanted to catch the drone.

“Oh my God Keith, it’s lighting up.  It’s a light show.” Lance whispers to him, Keith had no clue why he was whispering, but he was interested.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean it’s all these different shades of white and grey.  It looks so pretty.” He says, Keith could hear how fond Lance was of it.  Pidge was definitely going to win if she already won the crowd over… the crowd of people being a blind guy, two others, and a wolf.

She lands it, everyone claps.

“Thank you, Matt had to help pick out the colors for this.  So everyone can enjoy it… eh… sorry Keith…” She said, Keith held up a hand as to say no worries.  Hunk walks up and puts his drone down.

“Okay bud, how are you gonna beat that?”

“I won’t.”  Hunk says as he starts it up.  Everyone silently waits for his drone to fly… they all heard a weird humming.  Then it got louder as his drone flew up. The noise made both Lance and Keith laugh while Cosmo began to howl at it.  Pidge stood there, watching Hunk’s drone.

“You added fucking kazoos?”

“I wanted Keith to like it.”  He admits, she looks over at her friend.  He had his head buried in the joint of Lance’s neck, trying to muffle his laughter.  Wasn’t working, cause once Keith laughs, it can be heard for miles. He doesn’t have a quiet laugh.

Hunk flew it closer to the two boys, their laughing grew.  They both fell to the ground, Cosmo stopped howling and went after the drone.  Hunk panics and made it fly up again. Cosmo stops and howls at it again, wanting it to come back down.  Pidge had to hold back her own laughter at that point, the higher it went the higher the kazoos got.

Hunk gave Pidge a cocky smirk.  He clearly won, and all he did was stick four kazoos on a drone and hoped for the best.  His friends seemed to love it. Pidge humbly admits defeat that day.

* * *

Keith walks into the apartment that night with a big grin, Shiro sees him and waves.

“Where were you?”

“Out.”  Keith says.  “Pidge and Hunk built drones.  We went out and watched them.”

“Watched?”

“Okay I stood there while everyone else watched.  Pidge apparently made a light show with hers… Hunk put kazoos on his.”  Shiro went silent.

“... Kazoos?”

“Yeah, I enjoyed that one.  Cosmo, not so much.” He pats his dog’s head.  Cosmo leans against his owner happily. Keith smiles and pulls his hood down, bright eyes blankly staring at Shiro.

“You’re having the time of your life.”

“I am.  It’s nice.”  He takes off Cosmo’s leash and takes his bag off.  “But hanging out with them is draining, so I’m gonna hit the hay.”

“Okay, night.”

“Night.”

* * *

Pidge drums on the space between Lance and Hunk.  The two in the front were talking casually about the drones, Pidge changed the subject.  Yeah she humbly lost, but she can be salty about it.

“So… what were you and your group of friends at practice talking about?”  She asks Lance, he stops and looks at her.

“Oh, soulmates.  The usual.” He says.  “Talking about who are partner might be and what we want them to look like and all.”

“You that shallow?”  Pidge asks, Lance rolls his eyes.

“Please, I’m past that petty thinking Pidge.  I know I’m going to love my soulmate no matter what.”  He tells her. The group kind of grows quiet.

“I wish I could see color.”  Hunk said randomly, everyone else agrees.

“I want to know what lights my drone gave off.”  Pidge says sadly.

“My family who can see always talk about my eyes… how pretty they are.  I can only see grey when I look into the mirror.” Lance leans against the window.  “I want to know what makes mine so damn amazing.”

“I hate looking at cooking recipes and they say cook till a golden brown.  Yeah I have no clue what that looks like. I want to see that color.”

“I want to see every color.”  Pidge says. They all nod. “At least we can see.”  She says out of nowhere. “Keith doesn’t even have that… he’ll never know.”

“I can’t imagine living like that.”  Lance admits. “He acts so happy, but he has no idea what anything looks like.”

“How will he find his soulmate?”  Hunk asks.

“Who knows.”  Pidge said. “Keith keeps his eyes hidden in case that happens.  I don’t know why, but Keith hates the idea of his soulmate finding him.  Probably wants them to suffer like he has to.”

“Cruel.”  Hunk says, the other two chuckle slightly.

“I want to meet mine so badly.”  Lance says while looking out. “Getting real tired of waiting.”

“That’s the way of the game my dude.”  Hunk tells him.

“I know.  But I feel like I’ve met them, but it hasn’t clicked yet.  Does that make sense?”

“No.”

“It makes sense to me.”  Hunk says. “I know how you feel.  I feel like I see my soulmate everyday, but I haven’t seen her eyes yet.  It makes me so… frustrated. Like I know she’s there… I just have to see her.”

“That must mean I haven’t even come in contact with mine.”  Pidge says while looking down, then she grew upset. “Dammit… do I even have a soulmate?”

“Aw Pidgey.”  Lance looks at her and pats her head.

“I won’t ever see color at this rate.”  She whimpers, both boys could see tears forming in her eyes.  Lance brought her closer and gave her head a little kiss. Trying to sooth her.

“Pidge your soulmate is out there, and they’ll be lucky to have you in their life.  I’m sure of it.”

“You really mean that?”  She asks, Lance nods.

“Hunk and I are glad we met you.”  He says, she chuckles.

“I have no clue what you were thinking when you came up to me.”  She admits, Hunk pats her head.

“I’m glad I couldn’t catch him, he took one look at you and said “Hunk, look at that short person.  They must be new.” and off he went.”

“You were surprised to hear I was a sophomore.”

“You are so tiny and adorable!”

“I know I’m cute, but I hate being tiny.”

“I love that you’re tiny.  Right Hunk?”

“It’s easy to carry you.”

“Great.”  She rolls her eyes.  The three laughed as they drove down the silent rode.


	9. Teal

Keith took a big bite of his chicken sandwich, then chokes a bit on it.  Everyone at the table laughed at him as he gagged. He pouts and wipes his mouth with his sleeve, Shiro hands him a napkin.

“Don’t be a heathen.”

“Don’t be a heathen, blah.”  Keith mocks him. Shiro smacks the back of his head.

“Also you can put your hood down, no one here is your mate.”

“I’m still in public.”  Keith points out. Nyma smiles and reaches for his hood, he smacks her hand away.  “Back off, Nyma I know it’s you!”

“Come on Keith, we’re all friends here.”

“Leave my hood alone!  Rolo control her!”

“Control Nyma?  Ha, nice joke.” He comments.  Silver grabs Nyma’s collar and pulls her back.  Speaking quietly to her.

“Please be nice Nyma, and respect that Keith doesn’t like his hood down.”  She says, Nyma pouts.

“Boo.”  She says.  Matt, Shiro, and Rolo all laugh.  The Ruby Tuesday was full of their laughter.  Keith didn’t know why Shiro decided to have a night out with these four but he wasn’t complaining.  It was kind of nice to meet up with them, and Keith has been more social recently. He takes a fry from Shiro’s basket with a smile and hands it to Cosmo, who was laying on the ground asleep.  Shiro stares at him.

“You shit.”  He says. “Give me your sandwich.”

“No!  You have a burger!”  He snaps. The two brothers argue.  The other four talked or looked around.  Nyma saw a group of girls talking to one another, she makes a disgusted face.

“Seriously, who comes here to eat a salad.  It’s a restaurant, live a little!” She says, Matt looks at her.

“Jeez Nyma, it’s okay.  No need to be rude.”

“I’m not being rude, I’m just saying what everyone’s thinking.  Which is eat a fucking burger in your life.” She says a little louder.  Silver covers her mouth.

“No no.”  She says, Nyma stuck her tongue out at the girls.  They looked over at Nyma, wondering who the bitchy woman was and why she was yelling at them.  Keith nods in agreement to what Nyma was saying.

The six talked again like her yelling at the girls never happened.  They talked about work, how much Rolo hated his job. About life, how everything was going for everyone.  Then Nyma went back to yelling at people who were eating like normal healthy people, telling them to live a little.  Silver tried stopping her, Matt called her noisy, Shiro chuckles a bit, and Keith wonders why she was yelling to begin with.  Those people weren’t her problem.

Rolo lets her yell, knowing that he won’t be able to stop her.  He knows her better than anyone. After another two hours they all part ways and head home.  Keiths opens his cane and walks alongside Shiro and Cosmo.

“Man Nyma wouldn’t let that go.”  Keith said as they walk to the car that was parked somewhere.  Shiro nods as he pulls his keys out of his pocket.

“I know, but you know Nyma.  She’s very opinionated. If she has something to say then she’ll say it.  Which is why Rolo didn’t try and stop her.” They found the car, Shiro unlocks the drivers side and unlocks the entire car.  Keith opens the back and lets Cosmo jump in.

“I wonder how those two are soulmates.”

“Well they’re a good match.  They were paired together for a reason.”  He says as Keith hops in next to him. “I feel like you should ask that question about Matt and Silver.”

“I’ve given up on them, also how is it Matt found his soulmate before you?”

“Uh because his soulmate is a woman?”  Shiro points out. Keith nods and feels the car move.  “Also I don’t want to hear this from you, Mr. I-Don’t-Want-My-Soulmate.”

“My soulmate won’t love me.”

“I know.”  He sighs. “I’m not asking for much from you.  I’m happy you’re finally opening up to people. I have never seen you talk to those guys so much.  I’m sure Matt is thrilled that you did that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Matt and Silver want us to all get along with one another.  Easier for them to hang out with all their friends.” Shiro says as he drives off, Cosmo puts his head between those two.  Keith felt for the wolf and pats his head.

They walked into the apartment and Keith got Cosmo’s leash off.  He relaxed while Shiro walked into his room to plug his phone in.  Shiro walks back in and sees Keith laying on the couch. He smiles and lays on his brother.

A low groan comes from the boy under his weight.  Shiro smirks and wiggles to get comfortable. Keith began to smack him.

“Get off of me Shiro!”

“Ah, the lump speaks.”  Shiro says. Keith started to struggle, the adult snickers and closes his eyes.

“Time to rest.”

“You will perish under Gods wrath.”

“Yeah, and you’ll perish under my weight.”

“Fuuuuuck, you fat ass.”

“Ha ha.”  Shiro got off after that and went to his room.  Keith could finally breathe, and back to sleep he went.

* * *

Keith grabs Cosmo’s leash and calls him over.  He wanted some breakfast and had enough money to buy a griddle so he’ll take it.  Clipping the leash on the happy doggo he walks out. Taking his cane out and was greeted by the chilly morning air and many busy people on their way to work.  Keith pulls his hood on his cheeks more to keep him warm. He thought mornings meant less people, but of course it’s the complete opposite.

Keith walks around for a while, he heard people going past him whispering.  They sounded annoyed. Well sorry he can’t help it, he needs his cane and dog.  Cosmo walks with the crowd, trying to avoid what was annoying everyone else. Then out of nowhere someone grabs Keith’s arm and tugs on him, he tries to tug his arm away.  The person was not letting go, Cosmo began to growl. The man who grabs him screams.

“Call your dog off!  I just need help!” That was a different accent, what was it again?  Australian? “Please! I need directions!”

“Sorry, can’t help you.”

“B-But aren’t you a High Schooler?”

“I’m a graduate.”  He says. “I can’t help you.”

“But I’m lost!  I need directions to the public High School!”

“Why?”

“I’m trying to drop off an exchange student.”

“Okay?”  Keith says.  “I don’t know where the High School is.”

“But-”

“Sir, don’t you notice something off about me?”  Keith asks. The man looks then grabs his arm again.

“Please at least give me a general direction!”

“Uh…”  Keith would know where to go if he were home, he could walk to the High School.  But he was walking aimlessly, not knowing where he was going. Then he remembers, his loyal companion.  He got Cosmo’s attention.

“Cosmo, let’s go home.”  He says. Cosmo sat still for a moment, then began walking back.  “Follow me, I’ll lead you there.” He says. The man nods, Keith not knowing this, and began to walk home.  The man got back in his car and follows Keith the entire way.

Keith managed to beat the man home though, since he didn’t have to deal with red lights, only people.  The man makes it and stops in front of Keith’s apartment building.

“Alright youngster, lead the way!”

“Got it, come on Cosmo, I know the way.  Just help me avoid people.” He commands, Cosmo understood and began to walk, letting Keith lead him.  The man follows Keith all the way to the High School… well so much for a griddle. Still Keith felt nice for helping someone out, makes him feel not so useless.

“Thank you so much young man!”

“Don’t mention it.”  Keith says, he hears another door open and close.

“So this is who we were following?”  Now that’s a strong british accent. Keith faces its general direction.  “You have my thanks.”

“Allura, it’d be nice if you looked at the young man instead of your phone.”

“Ah, i-it’s okay.”  Keith said. “I can’t really uh… you know.”  Waves his arm over his face, Coran finally caught on.

“Oh… Oh!  Allura please thank him, a blind man just helped us!”

“I already thanked him, though I’m very impressed that you lead us here.  You’re probably the smartest person I’ve met ever since entering the city.”  She says in a kinder tone. Keith nods awkwardly.

“Well I’ll be o-”  Then the girl, Allura, screams.

“Get this animal away from me!”  She shouts, Cosmo got close to her and began to sniff her.  “Bad mutt, bad!”

“Hey, don’t call him that.  Cosmo come here.” Keith commands.  Cosmo whimpers, looking a little sad.  He did nothing wrong. “Come here boy.”  Cosmo walks over into Keith’s arms. “That’s a good boy.  You’re alright.”

“My dear it’s just a dog.”

“A large dog that could’ve attacked me!”

“Not every pet is the size of a mouse.  That also means not every large animal is a threat.”

“Cosmo is a service dog.”  Keith explained. “He’s been trained to be around people.”  He stood up. “Believe me, he wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

“I just don’t like dogs, okay?”

“Or cats, birds, rabbits, and may I list the others?”

“No Coran.”  She sassed. “Now I’m off to class.  See you after school.”

“Alright, call me when you’re done.”  He says, she waves him off. “Well now she’s off, in a new country and everything.”

“Neat.”  Keith says dryly.  Then his stomach growls, Coran looks at him.  “Oh yeah… I was getting breakfast. See ya, come on Cosmo.”

“How about I repay you by taking you wherever you want!”  Coran sounded way too happy. However Keith wasn’t going to just say no to a free ride.  Keith nods and Coran opens the door for him. Cosmo jumps in happily and Keith follows.

He hears the cars low hum, Cosmo explored the back.  Keith feels the seats under him, it felt nicer than Shiro’s car, felt nicer than Lance and Hunks by a long shot.  It even smelled nice, like it was expensive and it needed to stay expensive looking.

“So what are you craving my boy?”

“I-It’s Keith… I just wanted a McGriddle.”

“A what?”

“A McGriddle… a breakfast sandwich?”

“Oh no no no!  We aren’t doing that, to the diner!”  Coran shouts happily.

“What?”

* * *

He got dragged into a diner by Coran, it smelled nice and welcoming, but Keith has never been in it before.  He felt out of place. Cosmo and Coran seemed excited. They sat down and Keith messed with a napkin awkwardly.

“So what do you like?”

“Uh… what’s here?”  Keith really wishes he had sight so he could avoid this conversation, hell if he had sight he wouldn’t be in this situation.  He picks at the napkin and listens to Coran reading off the menu.

“So you like eggs?  They got many things like omelets and stuff.”

“I like… well I like… I dunno.  Anything really.”

“What’s on that sandwich ya like?”

“Eggs I think, and cheese, bacon… it’s on a pancake like bun… I think?”

“Then we’ll getcha pancakes!”

“Isn’t that childish?”

“Not at all!  Pancakes are for everyone, regardless of age!  Look at me, in my fifties and I still love em!”

“I can’t see you but whatever.”  Keith mumbles as a waiter hands them their drinks.  Keith could smell how strong his coffee was, it made him flinch a bit.  Coran laughs and pats Keith’s hand. “I want creamer…”

“Favorite kind?”

“Uh… I’m good with whatever.”  Keith says.

“How about pumpkin spice!  It’s pumpkin spice season.”

“Oh God please no I’m not that white…”

“In it goes!”

“Okay I guess.”  Keith took a sip and waited for his food to come.  Coran spoke up about his time when he was Keith’s age.  How Australia was a great place to live, then he interned at a business in England, met the chairman's son, became good friends with him, met his soulmate, had a child, how that child is now all grown up, how his wife had passed away due to illness.  It got depressing.

“So now I watch over my best friends child.  Allura is a spunky young girl, very out there.  Large and in charge as one might say.”

“Sounds like it.”  Keith took another sip and waits for Coran to continue.

“Now what about you, what’s your life like?”

“Uh… boring.”  Keith says. “I usually walk around with Cosmo, it’s either that I go to the gym.”

“You work out?”

“Yeah, someone, a body builder, teaches me for free.  He’s like my father when I’m away from my father…” Keith chuckles at that.

“You live on your own?”

“No, I live with my brother.”  Keith says. “I don’t know if I could handle being alone.”

“You sound like me.”  Coran says. “I can’t imagine being all alone.  I always need people around me. A social butterfly.”

“You don’t really need people to survive.”

“Quite the contrary.”  Coran said. “Our species is very social.  We pack with anything to not feel so alone.  I’ve heard of people thinking of their roombas as living things.  Heck you own a dog.”

“Wolf.”

“Whatever, point is we all need someone or something in our life.”  He says. “Which is why we are born in a grey world. Someone out there brings us color, you just have to go out and see people… just to find them.”

“What about someone like me?”  Keith asks. Coran just smiles.

“Well you’re here to bring happiness to someone, and they’ll give you the moon and stars for giving them the gift of color.”  He says.

Keith didn’t believe it, not anymore.  He believed that when he was a child, but now?  After what has happened to him years ago? He doesn’t trust anyone with his heart.  He’d rather die then trust his heart and soul with another person. Coran and Keith talk for the rest of the day, while Keith’s phone went off multiple times, only Cosmo noticed.

* * *

“Why did you call me fifty times?”

“To be fair it was only thirty and they were texts.”  Lance responds over the phone. “I wanted your attention.”

“You always want my attention.”  Keith points out while grabbing a soda.

“Cause I enjoy talking to you.  Hunk was researching something for his graduation project so I called you.”

“Shouldn’t you work on that yourself?”

“I don’t want to.  It’s boring.” Lance says while groaning.

“What are you supposed to be doing now?”

“I’m in Mrs. Hira’s class.”  He points out. “She’s strict.”

“Then why are you calling me?”

“Cause I miss you my sweet.  I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

“Suffer.”  Keith cracks it open and sits down on the couch while the TV plays.  Cosmo sat next to him.

“Why don’t you love me?”  Lance whines. Then out of nowhere he began to panic.  “I-I’ll put it away! No I’m hanging up right now! No I am not talking to my Mom!”  He sounded so embarrassed. “I gotta go Keith, bye.”

“Bye Lance, have fun with Mrs. Hira~”

“Shut u- DON’T TAKE MY PHO-”  Click, and he’s gone. Keith smiles and puts his phone down.  Poor Lance, now he’s probably going to blame Keith for this one.  He takes a sip and flips through channels, hearing them go by one by one.  It’s funny to hear them go by, like a broken up story of people who want to say something but someone else interrupts them.

Why the fuck-I’m sorry- Lauren- I feel that- Hahahahaha-Don’t- Jackas- I’m in love with him- My soulmate- I hate this ga- AND HE’S DOWN- Poor Philip- she was only five.  Keith chuckles as he flips through. He lands on a soap opera and decides that it was good enough. It sounded cheap and old but it works. A girl was in love with a boy who wasn’t her soulmate and she rather be with the guy who can’t see color, yada yada that sounds dumb.

Yeah fuck the poor grey guy over.  Sounds like a dick move to make this guy be yours when he doesn’t belong to you.  What kind of selfish jerk decides that their partner won’t see color. … Keith wasn’t going to think about it.

Who would’ve guessed it the guys soulmate walks in and she’s everything he’s ever wanted, yeah… take that you selfish bitch.

Shiro walks in and sees Keith listening to a soap opera.

“God what are you watching?”

“I have no idea.”

* * *

Lance pouts in the office, he just talked to the principal and that was a nightmare.  All the Serrano kids have been there before, so Lance was no exception. He got up and walks out after his ten minute time out, something all seventeen year olds still have, and left.  His dignity was no more.

He walks into a student who was looking at a schedule, looking very lost.  She was a taller woman with dark grey skin, slightly darker than Hunk, but her hair was on the other side of the spectrum.  She wore beautiful looking clothes, she had to be rich to afford that. Lance couldn’t help but think she’s beautiful.

“Hello?”

“Hm?”  She looks up, many greys in her eyes.  Lance smiles.

“Can I help you?”

“Oh yes, I have been looking all over for the gymnasium and I cannot find it.”  She says in such a heavy accent. Lance smirks.

“Well today is your lucky day.  Follow me milady and I shall take you to your destination~”  He leads her down the stairs. “So what’s your name?”

“Allura, Allura Lion.  You?”

“Lance Serrano.”  He says. “Is Lion really your last name?”

“Yes, it’s kind of funny.”

“Sounds cool in my opinion.”  He says. She smiles and was lead to the hallway with the gym.  “Here you are. Girls locker room is that way.”

“Oh thank you.  I shall see you later Lance.”

“Yep, stay beautiful.”

“You’re a charmer, aren’t ya?”  She asks with a smile. Lance only winks and walks away.  She laughs a bit and walks into the gymnasium. Lance was kind of glad he went to the office, he got to meet a new friend, another pretty face.  And he could help her out, he has a pass so he’ll be fine.

* * *

Pidge invites Hunk and Lance to break into Shiro’s apartment.  He was at the counter looking at a tablet, trying to make a mixed drink.  He didn’t even look at them when they waltzed on in, he was so used to it at this point.  Hunk follows Pidge, being awkward just breaking in. Lance ran in to find Keith, who was sadly in the shower.

Lance runs in and pulls the curtain open.

“Hello!”  He says happily, Keith screams.  Not knowing whether to hide his face or his body, his dumbass panicked and hid his eyes in the crook of his elbow.

“Lance, what the hell?!”  He used his free hand to reach for the curtain and pulls it back.  He could hear Lance chuckling. “How the- why the- what are you doing here?!”

“Jeez, calm down Keith.  It isn’t anything I haven’t seen before.”  He says like what he did was forgivable. “Also damn, Pidge was right.  You are in shape~”

“Get out!”

“Okay.  Sorry.” Lance says with a chuckle and leaves.  Keith groans and hits his head against the tile in front of him.  That has got to be one of the most embarrassing things to ever happen in his life.

Lance meets up with his friends.  One looked indifferent while the other looked at him with the worlds most disapproving look.

“Lance… I know you’re from a big family… but walking in on someone taking a shower isn’t normal.”  Hunk points out like he’s said it many times before. Lance only smiles, he got to see something so it wasn’t a loss.  Pidge kept that look on her face as she turns the TV on. Shiro kept mixing drinks in the back, you could hear him curse and fumble up many times.

Keith storms out with a towel tied around his waist and one lazily placed over his head.  Everyone stared at him as he walks out in anger.

“Hello _Virgin Mary_.”

“Zip it Pidge.  Which way is Lance?”

“I’m a little to your right buddy.”  He says calmly. Keith turns a bit. “There ya go.”

“Thanks.”  He says, then proceeds to kick at him.  Lance shrieks and lifts his legs up in terror.  “Do you not know the meaning of the word privacy?!”

“Keith, I’ve walked in on you before.”  Pidge says.

“I said zip it!”

“Too far left.”

“Shut up.”  He went back to Lance.  “You.”

“A little lower.”

“I don’t appreciate you barging in when I’m trying to shower!”

“I assume most don’t appreciate it.”

“Just never do it again!  Sick creep!” He walks to his room, Cosmo at his feet.  Lance was just amazed that he could navigate his home just fine without his sight.  You could tell he’s got the layout down well.

Hunk looks at his friends with this look of sheer horror yet amazement.

“Was I the only one who noticed Keith had a freaking six pack?”

“I’ve noticed.”  Lance practically purred.

“Kolivan pushes him.  Doesn’t give two shits that he’s blind.”  Pidge said as she smacks Lance for being creepy.

“Well it certainly pays off.”  Lance points out. Shiro walks by from behind the couch and smacks Lance’s head, the boy grumbles in pain as he rubs his skull.  Shiro took a seat next to him and watched Pidge look through videos. Why pay for a damn TV when they go on the roku all the time?

Keith comes back out in clothes, another hoodie to one’s dismay, and felt around.  He pouts in the direction of the couch.

“Sorry, you snooze you lose.”

“Such bullshit.”  He grumbles as he sat down on the floor.  Cosmo sat next to him and rests his head on his owners lap.  Lance began to pick at his hoodie. “Knock it off. I know it’s you and you are on my bad side at the moment.”

“I’m sowwy.”

“Go be ‘sowwy’ somewhere else!”  He growls. “Quit grabbing my hood!”

“But Keef.”

“My name is Keith!”

“Keef.”

“Keith!  K! E! I!  T! H!”

“Do you know what a k e i t and h even looks like?”  Lance asks. Keith immediately turns around and tried attacking him.  Lance shrieks and hugs Shiro, who showed no emotion and kept drinking his mixed drink.

“So glad I made this…”  He adds while the two continue to fight.  Keith kept reaching for him, Lance squeaks and climbs onto the top of the couch, Cosmo took his spot.  Shiro looks over at Keith. “Knock it off.”

“He insults me!”

“It’s out of love!”

“Fuck you!”

“Would you?”  Lance teased again, Keith turned a shade darker and began swinging his cane at Lance.  Pidge and Shiro lazily lean one way to avoid the cane. “IT WAS A JOKE! A JOKE!”

“Keith, Lance didn’t mean it, lighten up.”

“Never!”  Keith shouts.  Lance yelps and hops in Hunk’s lap.  Pidge and Shiro lean back.

“Anyways we’re here to pick you up.”  Pidge says. “Wanna come hang out with us?”

“Where?”

“I dunno, just dick around.”  Pidge says. “Give Shiro a break from our bullshit.”

“I guess.”  Keith says as he slowly puts his cane down.  Shiro looks at his blind brother.

“Oh if you’re going out, can you go get groceries?”  He asks, Keith groans. Shiro sighs. “Come on Keith, just go pick up a few things.  I’ll be nice and write you a list.”

“Oh how generous of you.”  Keith sassed off. Shiro whips out his phone and texts Keith the list of what to get.

“Pidge can read it to you.”

“Aw, I have to go with?”

“What is with you guys?”  Shiro asked. “When I wa-”

“Do not start the whole “when I was your age” crap.”  Keith says. The room went silent.

“I was taking care of you and paying for this damn house.”

“God I don’t want to hear it!”  Keith shouts at the roof.

“Well I was!  I had to take care of your thirteen year old ass!”  Shiro points out, Keith groans yet again.

“Fine I’ll go get food.  Come on Cosmo.”

“Not just food.”

“What did you put on the list?”

“What we need.  Have fun.” Shiro says.  Keith puts the leash on Cosmo and walks out, his friends follow.  Shiro lays on the couch, nice to have some peace and quiet for a few hours.

* * *

The four walk down the road to the store.  Keith sways his cane back and forth, Pidge plays jump rope with it, Hunk walked next to Cosmo, petting the wolf, and Lance was mentally counting how many times Pidge jumped over the cane.  So far it was 43.

They made it to the store and walked in, Hunk grabs a cart.  Pidge hops on the back while Lance hops in.

“Go!”

“No.”  Hunk said.

“Boring.”

“Come on Keith, I’ll push for you.”

“You sure you guys wanted to come with me?”  Keith asks. They all stayed silent. “Shopping with me is really annoying.”

“What do you mean?”  Lance asks as he hops out.  Cosmo jumps in his place, Hunk used his super strength to push the wolf and Pidge.

“I have a bad habit when shopping.”

“Can’t be that bad.  Let’s go!” He shouts.  Pidge took Keith’s phone and read the list.

“Alright… we need some milk, black garbage bags, a 12 pack of soda, some more dusters, toilet paper, cereal, and a box of waffles.”  She says. “You two have a shitty diet.”

“Shiro can’t cook.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t want to burn the place down.”  Keith says as they walk around. Hunk found the first thing, they noticed right away what Keith meant by him being an annoying shopping companion.  As soon as Hunk put the dusters in the cart next to Cosmo, Keith took them out and began to mess with them.

He felt the box in his hands, then puts it back.  They grab toilet paper, Keith grabs it. Lance grabs it from him and did the same thing.

“It’s plushy.”

“Yeah.”  Keith says as he takes it back and puts it down.  Pidge laughs as Lance joins him with it. Lance did it probably because he was curious.

“Why do you do that?”  Hunk asks. Keith looks at him as he was holding a gallon of milk.

“I-I don’t know.  I like how they all feel different.”  Keith admits. “The textures are all different.”  He says, Hunk grabs it and held it.

“Oh it’s true.  They are different.”  They messed around with objects for a few moments then continued with Shiro’s list.  They got most of it and continued on.

“I wanna treat!”  Lance exclaimed.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Cause I’m paying.”

“Exactly.  Treat!” Lance says again.

“Buy your own treat.”

“But I didn’t bring money.”

“Don’t care.”  Keith said.

“This just in, Keith’s a bully.”  Lance says. Keith whacks his leg with his cane again, Lance yelps.  “What did I say about my legs!”

“They don’t look that good.”

“You can’t see!”  Lance shouts, everyone laughs.  People stare at the strange skeptical that was going on before them.  One woman stops and stares at them. It took her a moment to realize she knows one of them.

“Keith?”  She says, voice above a whisper.  He hears it and turns around with his friends.  The three saw a dark grey woman with long white hair standing before them.  She just looks at Keith with shocked eyes. “Keith?”

“Mom?”  His voice was of one with disbelief.  She smiles nods, hearing her familiar voice.  Keith drops his cane and runs to her. “Mom!” He about tackles her down.  Honerva grabs him and held him in a tight grip.

She pulls his hood down and runs her fingers through his hair.  She pulls away and looks at his face, his uneven eyes were bright and happy.  She brushes his bangs out of his face and smiles.

“Look at you.  You’re so big.”  She says with a teary voice.

“I’m nineteen now.”

“No, no way.”  She says then hugs him again.  “I’ve missed you so much, my baby boy.”

“I’ve missed you too Mom.”  He says as he hugs her back.  The group just stares in disbelief at the scene going on.  They jumped when a larger man walks over.

“Honerva what are you doing?”  He asks. Keith faces him with the same grin.  The scary man’s face went oddly cheerful. “Keith!”

“Dad!”  He hugs him, the man practically lifts him in the air.

“When did you get so big?”

“Nine years of growing.”

“When the hell did that happen?  Honerva did nine years really go by?”

“I guess so.”  She brushes Keith’s hair again.  “Oh Keith it’s so good to see you again.”  She says, Keith nods. “Who are those three and… dog?”

“Oh.”  Keith pulls his hood up and faces them.  “The girl is my best friend Pidge, the squeaky one is Lance, the deeper one is Hunk, and the dog is my seeing eyes dog Cosmo.”

“Hey.”  Hunk waves.

“I am not squeaky!”  Lance squeaks.

“So how is everyone else?”

“Your siblings?”  Zarkon asked. “Good.  James graduated the same year as you.  Plaxium is still in school, you know how your little sister is.  Florona is in band now, playing the bassoon.”

“Little Florona playing that big old instrument?”

“She manages.”  Honerva says. “Meanwhile Lotor is helping us with the newest member.”

“Another child?”

“Well teenager.”  Honerva said. “Poor girl lost her entire family.  We have no clue what happened, she refuses to talk about it.”

“She goes to the high school here.  Mainly with Plaxium.”

“So you guys are living closer?”  Keith asks.

“Uh huh, much closer now.  Not in the city, but close to the school district.”  Honverva says. “So how is everything? How’s Shiro?”

“He’s good.”  He says happily.  “He got a better job, and got a van after a while.”

“Good man.”  Zarkon nods. “I’m sure you were a handful.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  Keith asks with a chuckle. The others just watch Keith catch up with his parents… he looks nothing like them.  After a few minutes Keith decides to say goodbye for now. A few last hugs and kisses and they split.

Keith walks back to his group and notices how silent they all are.  He had to ask.

“What?”

“Those are your parents?”  Pidge asks.

“Foster parents, yes.  But the only parents I have left.”  Keith tells them with a big smile. “They handed me to Shiro when I was ten years old, I haven’t seen them since.  It was nice to finally see them again.”

“You mean-”  Pidge starts.  Keith showed her one cold grey eye, like he was looking right at her.  That shut her up. Hunk laughs.

“I’m glad you got to see your family again, family is important.”

“I guess.”  Keith says as they walked to the register.  Keith pays and they all walk back to the apartment, on the way back Lance finally spoke up.

“You know Plax?!”

“Huh?”

“Plax!”

“You mean Plaxium?”  Keith asks, Lance nods.  Keith took the silence as a yes.  “Uh yeah… she’s my sister. Well foster sist-”

“She’s your sister?!”

“How do you know her?”

“Plax is in dance!  I practice with her everyday.”

“Not surprised, she was always into that.”

“I just can’t believe you are related to her!”

“She’s my foster sister, I’m not blood related to her.”

“You still consider her your sister!”  Lance points out, Keith was confused.

“C-Cause I only know her as my sister.  The same thing with Shiro.”

“Wait Shiro isn’t your brother?”  Hunk asks.

“Not by blood.”

“I thought you two were related!”

“Hunk I’m an only child.”

“You are?!”

“Seriously you guys?”  Keith asks. Pidge, the only one who knows this, sighs.

“It’s because you’re both Asian.”

“You’re Asian?!”

“Hunk, seriously!”  Keith was literally shocked by his friend’s behavior.

“Give me a break, I can’t see your face!”  Hunk points out. Keith groans and kept walking down the sidewalk with Cosmo.  The group kept walking down the sidewalk back to the apartment. As soon as they made it in they had to walk up the flight of stares.  Pidge began to complain.

“Oh my God why do you live so far up?!”

“It could be worse.”

“This is hell!”

“Up the stairs we go~”  Lance began to sing. Hunk was praying to whoever was listening to give him strength to go up the stairs.  They finally made it up and walked in, Shiro looks over and waves at them.

“Welcome back Keith, and others who don’t live here.”

“Hi Shiro.”  Hunk says.

“You need to move.”  Pidge growls as she puts everything in the small kitchen.  “You owe us!”

“Owe you what?  What does the princess want?”

“You to live in a different house.”

“No can do.”  He says and pets Cosmo, who Keith has unleashed and is now relaxing with the older man.

“I ran into Mom and Dad.”  Keith said, Shiro looks over with slight shock.

“Zarkon and Honerva?”  He asks, Keith nods. “How are they?”

“They’re good.”  Keith says as he starts putting things away with Pidge.  “They took in another child.”

“Those two will never stop taking kids in.”  Shiro says with a chuckle. Lance looks over at Keith from the couch, lazily dangling off.

“If you want, I can let you see Plax again.”

“No.”  Keith sounded so cold.  Lance was taken aback by his response.

“Why not?”

“I don’t have the best relationship with my sister, or any of my foster siblings at that.”  Keith points out.

“Ouch.”  Shiro says with a chuckle.

“Besides you Shiro.”  Keith says. “We had a… rocky relationship.  I just want to forget about them.” He was done putting things away and walked inside.

“I’m sure it’ll be better now.”

“Not happening.”  Keith says as he sits in the chair, Pidge crawls onto his lap.  He hugs her tight and kept talking. “Besides, I’m perfectly content here.”  He says as he listens to the TV go by.

* * *

“Just come over!”

“No, I am not going to the school.”  Keith says as he walks out of the gym.

“But Keeeef!”

“I know what you’re planning Lance, you’re not smooth.”

“I’m not planning anything.”

“Dance tonight?”

“Maybe…”

“I knew it.”  Keith said as he took Cosmo from the nursery.  “I’m not coming ov-” He felt something itchy brush his leg.  “Cosmo? What are you wearing?” He felt it, the older woman who watches the kids spoke up.

“Oh they played dress up with your dog.  He has lipstick on.”

“What?”  Keith was horrified.  Lance was laughing over the phone, he heard all of that.  Keith took his shirt off and rubs the lipstick off his dogs face.  He rips the tutu off his wolf and tugs him by his leash. Putting his hoodie back on and over his eyes he walks out the door.

Keith puts his phone back up to his ear and spoke.

“You still there?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”  Keith smiles.  “Why do you care if I see my sister or not?  I haven’t seen her in nine years, I doubt she remembers me.”

“Let’s test it.”

“No Lance.”  Keith says as he walks past people.  “You don’t have to bother yourself with my past, so just let it go.”

“I feel like I have to.”  Lance says.

“That makes no sense.”

“You ever get that feeling that you need to involve yourself in a situation, even though you have nothing to do with it?”

“No.”

“Well that’s how I feel about this.”

“I think it’s you being nosy.”  Keith points out.

“Fine, maybe it is.”  Lance huffs. “Then come over so we can go do something.”

“Really?”

“Yes, we can have another Dr. Phil marathon!”  Lance says happily. “We can hang out at the cafe again, wasn’t that fun last time?”  He asks, Keith chuckles a bit.

“Yeah, Cosmo needs a new toy.”

“See?  It’s mutually beneficial.”

“Fine, I’ll come over.  What time?”

“Practice ends at four thirty.”

“Okay, see you later.”

“Buh bye my sweet.”

“Gross.”  Keith hung up and followed Cosmo into the apartment.  He took the leash off and went to take a shower. He turns the water on and lets his sore body relax.  It felt nice to be under hot water after walking in the cold weather.

He took his time then walks out with a towel around his waist.  He walks to his room and lays on his bed, letting sleep take him.  Lately he’s been exhausted, more so that usual. Probably because he’s doing more than usual, seeing as how he has friends and all.  He woke up to Shiro walking in and groaning.

“Keith, put some clothes on.”

“Must’ve passed out.”  Keith says as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes.  The blackness looks a little clearer. He got up and began to change.  “What time is it?”

“Around three.”  Shiro said. “Why?  You going somewhere?”

“Lance wants to hang out after dance.”  Keith slides his shirt on with ease. “He’s off at four thirty but I want to beat the traffic.”

“Okay.”  Shiro nods.  Keith slides his hoodie on and puts it over his eyes.  He grabs Cosmo and walks out, the two followed the route Keith took to get to the high school.  Cosmo trots next to his owner happily.

They finally made it, Keith asked Siri to read the time.  He had some time to kill, so he just sat outside the building and played music.  He didn’t have his headphones in so his music was being played out loud for the world to hear.  Finally he heard people walking out, he just sat there and listened to them.

“Oh look, it’s my brother’s friend.”  He heard Rachel’s voice. “Keith! Hey Keith!”

“Hm?”  He faces her, just to show he heard her.  Rachel runs over and got in his face.

“Hey.  What are you doing out here?”

“Waiting for Lance.  Where is he?” Keith asks as he got up.

“He’s coming.”  She says, the person she was talking to looks over.  She got closer and grabs his hood, Keith fought against it.

“What the- who the hell?!”

“No fucking way…”  She says. “No fucking way!”

“What?”  Rachel asks.

“Nine years, what is up Keith?!”

“Do I know you?”

“It’s me!  Your little sister?”  She asks like he was dumb.  Keith groans, the one person he didn’t want to meet.  Why does God hate him? “You’ve grown so much! Are you over six feet?”

“Yes.”

“Wow!  All my brothers grew so much!”

“Wait he’s your brother?”  Rachel asks. “Small world.”

“I want to know how you know him.”  Plax said with a chuckle.

“Oh my brother is obsessed with him.  He’s all he talks about.” Rachel said with slight playfulness.  “Here I’ll go get him.” She ran off, leaving Plaxium alone with him.  She looks at her brother with a smile.

“So how are you?”  She asks.

“Fine.”

“Still a man of many words of I see.”  She teases. “How’s that man you went to live with… Zero?”

“Shiro.”

“Yeah, how is he?  How is everything?”

“Fine.”

“Oh come on, you can add on to this you know.”  She says.

“Why should I?”  Keith asks in a cold tone.  Plaxium goes quiet, she shuffles on her feet.

“I just… I haven’t seen you in so long.  After you left, I thought I’d never see you again.  I want to talk to you, see how you’ve been.”

“Are you kidding?”  Keith asks.

“N-No.”  Plaxium says shyly.  “I want to know if you’ve been doing well.”  Keith grew upset, now she’s acting nice? After three years of mentally and physically abusing him she now wants to talk like they’re buddies, like that never happened?!  He takes his hood off and glares at her.

“Look at me!  Look me in my damn grey eyes, and tell me how I feel!  How do you think I fucking feel about this Plaxium?!”

“You look...upset…”  She squeaks out.

“I’m more than upset!  Don’t fucking act like nothing is between us!  You went along with James’s scheme and made me feel like shit!  I didn’t feel safe walking near any of you cause you all thought it was funny when I fell flat on my face!  You stole my cane, my stuffed animal which was the only thing I had left from my dead parents, and made me the way I am now!  You think I’m happy to hear you again?!”

Plaxium looks down, he can hear her trying to calm herself down.  She was about to cry, and Keith didn’t care. Let her cry, make her feel bad.  He’s cried a billion tears thanks to her and the others.

“I’m sorry.”  She mutters out, it sounded weak.

“ **Bull** … **shit**.”  Keith growls.  Plaxium looks at him, hating how his blind eyes were right on her.  She could tell her brother was pissed off.

“Keith-”

“No, I don’t want to hear it.  Not from you, or from anyone.”

“I really am sorry.”

“Tell that to the abuse I went through!”  Keith snaps, she flinched. “You’re not sorry, you’re only saying it cause I’m calling you out for all the horrible things you’ve done to me as kids.”

“We’ve changed.  It was quiet and lonely when you left-”

“Cause you didn’t have your punching bag around.”

“Keith, please!”  She cries. “I want you to believe me!  I never did want to hurt you!”

“Three years Plax!”  He snaps. “Three years you hurt me!  Lotor was the only one who treated me with kindness, unlike the rest of you!”  He was practically screaming, people were looking over with concern. “I went into that damn house scared and confused!  I had just learned that my parents had died! Instead of finding peace I was met with ridicule and hatred! You all thought I was pathetic and useless because of something I couldn’t control!”

“You made me hate myself, made me second guess everyone and everything around me!  It wasn’t until Shiro took me in is when I felt love again! I had someone who fucking cared about me!  You never loved me or cared about me! So don’t fucking act like we’re siblings, cause you were never a sister to me!”

Plaxium’s face was full of tears.  She regrets what she did as a child, and no matter what she did or what she regrets, Keith was still her big brother.  She never thought of him as anyone else. After he left she did miss him, she wondered sometimes when he was coming back, but that day never came.  She had learned after a while that he was gone for good. Now she sees him again and he hates her, full on despises her. Even after she tried to apologize he refuses to hear her, and all she can do is cry.

Keith huffs, he didn’t care.  He pulls his hood up and walked away.  Someone grabs his shoulder, Keith growls and pulls away.

“Well that was something.”  A familiar voice with an unfamiliar tone to it.  Keith stood there a little shocked.

“Lance?”  He asks, silence follows.  “Did you see that?”

“No, only all of it.”  He says. “You said a rocky relationship.”  Lance points out, Keith went silent. “That’s not a rocky relationship Keith.”

“You weren’t supposed to know about that.”  Keith said. Lance walks after him.

“Keith, maybe she has changed-”

“I don’t want to hear it.”  Keith says coldly. Lance looks down and nods.  He grabs Keith’s arm and loops it around his.

“Let’s just go, I want to forget everything I’ve heard today.”  He admits, Keith nods.

“Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, major writers block. Anyways this chapter kind of sucks and I'm not proud of it. But hey it's done and now I can move on to the next one, which I know all of you are going to like.


	10. Magenta

Keith lays lazily in his room while Cosmo chews on his new styrofoam cup.  That time hanging out wasn’t as fun as the last time. Keith’s mind was still on seeing his sister again, and he knew Lance’s mind was on the same thing.  Keith didn’t like that, he didn’t want anyone to see that side of him. What’s worse is that Lance is now growing closer, closer than a damn friend should.  Pidge didn’t know that much about his life, and that’s his best friend for christs sake.

He groans and turns over on his bed, trying to fall asleep.  He feels tired, but his brain isn’t going to sleep like he wanted it to.  He just lays there with his eyes closed, hoping that that will make him fall asleep faster.  It doesn’t.

* * *

Lance plays with a random object in his room, his mind was playing that scene with Keith over and over again.  Lance wants to know more about him, it’s starting to bug him how little he actually knows about Keith. Hell he hasn’t seen his face properly yet and it’s starting to drive him insane, he’s seen his dick before his face, and that’s just sad.

“Lance?”  He hears someone call to him, he looks up to see his sister, Veronica.  She walks over and sat at the edge of the bed. “You seem upset, Mamá said she was worried about you.”

“I’m fine.”  He says in a quiet voice, unlike his own.  Veronica sighs.

“Rachel told me.”  She admits, Lance gave her a sour look.  “I know it’s hard to hear those kinds of things Lance, but everyone comes from a different life and a different background.  Not everything is all sunshine and rainbows out there.”

“It’s not that!”  Lance sat up. “It’s just that- the more I learn about him, the bigger mystery he is!  I never know anything about him, and just when I think I’ve got a basic idea BOOM something else happens and it just adds on to the endless list of questions I have about him!”  Lance curls his hands into fists. “It just… it pisses me off!”

Veronica waits for Lance’s anger to simmer down.  Lance isn’t one to get angry, so whenever he gets upset you know something is up.  Once Lance calms down to a safe point Veronica spoke up again.

“I know it’s frustrating Lance, trust me I do.”  She says. “I get upset at my friends when they don’t tell me something is wrong.”

“It doesn’t feel like that!  I have a hard time believing we’re even friends!”  He admits. “I want to be his friend, but he’s locking himself away.  I can’t get in, no matter how many times I knock. I just want him to trust me.”

“I’m sure he does, it probably just takes longer for him to open up.”  Veronica says with a smile, Lance just looks defeated. Nothing she said was making him feel any better.  She leaves him at that and Lance was again alone with his thoughts.

He grabs his phone, wondering if he should ask Pidge or Shiro, maybe talk to Hunk.  That big man always knew what to say, he was like a personal counselor. Best counselor in the twelfth grade.

Lance groans and turns away, he doesn’t want to bother anyone with his issues.  He’ll deal with it on his own, like he always does. No need to burden anyone else in his life.

* * *

“God damn this level is near impossible.”  Pidge groans. She leans back on Keith’s bed and falls on her back, DS held high above her face.  Keith faces down to tell her he’s aware of her being near his crossed thigh. She pouts and looks at Keith.  “I give up, the gym leader is impossible.”

“Maybe you should do something else instead of videogames all damn day.”

“I choose what I do on my Saturdays.”  She says and pokes his cheek. “So what’s up with you?  You’ve been quiet today.”

“I’m always quiet.”

“But not with me, you talk to me.”  She says. “What’s on your mind?” Pidge got close and pokes his face.  “Come on~ Talk to me~”

“Knock it off.”

“Quit being moody~”  She says happily, Keith sighs and faces away from her.

“I… met my sister yesterday.”  He tells her, Pidge’s face dropped.

“Plax?”  She asked, Keith nods.  “I’m guessing it didn’t go well.”

“How'd you guess?”  He asks in a sarcastic tone.

“Well the frown kind of gave it away.”  She says.

“I went off, practically screamed at her.”  He says. Cosmo gets under Keith’s arm and looks up at his owner.  Pidge waits for him to continue. “I think a good majority of the dance team saw me flip out.”

“What were you doing at the school?”

“Lance wanted to hang out.”  Keith said. “I didn’t think it’d meet up with Plaxium.”  He pets Cosmo sadly. “It was awkward the entire time we hung out.”

“Well he saw you flip your shit.  I’d be awkward around you too.” Pidge lays on his thigh and smiles at him.  “Don’t worry, everything will be fine in the end.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so.”  She sat up and looks at him.  “That’s what friends are for.”

“Yeah, thanks.”  He grabs her and pulls her in for a hug.  Shiro walks in and stares at the two.

“Don’t tell me you two hung in Keith’s room all day.”

* * *

Monday rolls around and the two seniors had nothing to do besides work on papers for classes, they sat at the computers and worked… well one did.

“Come on Lance, it’s not that hard.”

“I cannot think of anything.”  Lance says.

“It’s just a paper, nothing too big.”

“It’s a paper to help with college, how is that not big?”  Lance asks in frustration. He slams his head on the keyboard.  Now his doc has one sentence. ‘gbvyuhnijmok,l’ Hunk looks over at it.

“Congrats, you have one sentence.”  He said in a dry tone.

“I’m gonna text-”  Lance grabs his phone, Hunk took it from him and puts it on the other side of the computer desk.  Lance gave Hunk the most betrayed look.

“No bugging Keith, get back to work.”

“But Hunk-”

“No, you aren’t bugging him.  Besides he’s at the gym right now.”  Hunk points out, Lance pouts at him and refused to touch the computer.  “Come on Lance, just work on your paper. You can talk to him later.”

“I wanna talk now.  We haven’t talked since the whole “yelling at Plax” incident.”  Lance says. “Come on, I don’t want him to think I’m mad at him.”

“Talk later.”

“Hunk!”  He whines.

“What is going on over here?”  The two were assaulted by a strong british accent.  The two turn to see a dark grey woman behind them, Lance recognizes her.

“Oh, you’re lion girl.”

“Allura.”  She says, he nods.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll remember.”  He says with a smile. She nods and sat at the computer next to Lance.

“So what are you two doing?”

“Lance has a thing for some guy and now he wants to talk to him instead of writing his paper.”

“I do not have a thing for Keith!”  Lance squeaks.

“Bullshit.”  Hunk points out.  Lance stuck his tongue out and pokes at the keyboard.  A few k’s appeared on the screen. Allura looks at them with a quirked brow.  “Keith’s a friend.”

“Just a friend.”

“I was about to say, a crush seems rather silly Lance.  Only fools grow feelings for one another. You must fall in love with your soulmate.”  She says as she turns a computer on. Lance sighs.

“I know that.”  He says. “Can you blame me for caring?”

“No, cause I care to.  But you take it to another level.”  Hunk says. “You practically tackle him down when he’s around and you thought his naked body was hot.”

“Forgive me for thinking he’s hot.”

“Dude, you haven’t seen his entire face.”

“I’ve seen enough to know he’s good looking.”  Lance says. “And it’s not that. I just care, he’s our friend.”

“Uh huh.”

“Keith… wait…”  Allura points. “Blind?  Has a big dog?”

“Wolf actually, and yes.”  Lance nods.

“I’ve met him.  He lead Coran here.  Rather smart for a blind guy.”

“He isn’t stupid.”  Hunk points out. “Just can’t see.  Take that part out and he’s like everyone else.”

“I’m not trying to be rude about it.  I just feel pity because he cannot see, thus cannot find his soulmate.”

“You shouldn’t.”  Hunk said. “He doesn’t want a soulmate, and we all respect that.”

“Yeah, not everyone is keen on finding their love, like Hunk and I.”  Lance says happily. “Our true love is out there, and we’ll find them… someday.”

“Hopefully before graduation.”

“We wouldn’t be that lucky.”  Lance laughs. “I wish. What about you?  Why are you here?”

“Oh, I saw this school on a list of schools in America.  Something about this school spoke to me, like I should be here.”  Allura said. “My father will send Coran and I money while we live here and I’ll move back to my country when I go to college.”

“What if you like it here?”

“Then I’ll arrange something where I can live here.  We’ve thought of everything if anything happens.” She says proudly.

“Man you have your whole life planned.”

“Yep, that makes it easier.”

“But life is meant to be lived.”  Hunk says. “You can’t plan everything out, cause you never know what happens.”

“I agree.”  Lance says. “I’d rather live my life than plan it.”

“You live by your ways, and I’ll live by mine.”  She says. “Well I must get going. Advance lit and all.  I hope to see you two later.” She waves and walks off. Hunk looks at Lance.

“Advance lit?”

“Must be smart.”

* * *

Keith got done with his work out and was now taking a shower to wash away all the sweat that has pooled all over his body.  Kolivan is still ruthless, if anything could change in his life, Kolivan going easy would be a welcomed one. He got done and changed into normal clothes.  He walks to the fridge and pulls a soda out.

As he walks back to the living room, with a happy dogo waiting for him, his phone goes off.  Keith picks up and sat down next to Cosmo, the wolf responds by putting his head under Keith’s arm, wanting to be pet.

“Hello?”

“Hello my darling angel~”  Lance sounded way too happy, Keith couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“Well someone’s happy, and what do I owe the pleasure of hearing you today?”

“Oh, well I’m just sitting around in school doing nothing important so I thought I could spend my time doing something worthwhile, like talking to you.”

“You need a hobby.”

“I have one.”  Lance says. “And talking to you makes me happy, so spoil me.”

“Why must you always call me?”

“I just said why.  I want your attention, so spoil me with it.”

“Do I have to?  I always give you my attention.”

“And I love you for it.  So treat me like a prince and give me more.”

“More like princess.”

“I’ll take it.”  Lance said, Keith let out a breathy laugh.  He cracks his soda open and takes a drink, then he made a gag noise and glares at the can he cannot see.  “What was that?”

“Damn fruity soda- motherfucker’s gonna die.”  Keith got up and took another can out. He cracks it open immediately and found out it was coke.  He took it and walked back.

“Did you taste something awful?”

“Shiro buys fruit flavored soda and I find it disgusting.  So he sprinkles it in with my cokes in the fridge cause I can’t tell the difference between them.”

“What a harsh life you live.”

“Fuck you, at least you can see which is fruity and which isn’t.”

“I like strawberry soda.”

“Ew.”  Keith says.  “I disown you.”

“No returns.”  Lance says smugly, Keith shook his head.

“You’d come crawling back anyways.”

“Only for you~”  Keith rolls his eyes at that.  He lays back, using his dog as a footrest, and continues to chat with Lance.  Because he can’t say no to him for some unknown reason, and it was nice. Not awkward and quiet like last time.  Lance was even talking about another meet up time with everyone, Keith agrees that it’d be fun to meet up again.

They spoke till Lance’s next class and then it grew quiet again.  Keith smiles to himself, happy that it wasn’t awkward between them.  He thought Lance would grow distant after seeing him yell at his sister, but Lance was still his usual self.  All out there and full of himself like always.

Keith kind of wishes he had that confidence, well he was confident in himself since moving, but Lance was on a whole new level.  Like he had nothing to hide from the world.

…

Keith was stuck on that thought.  Lance hadn’t spoken to him for a few days, and he wasn’t quite himself when they hung out.  Keith began to wonder, was Lance trying to hide something?

He shook his head.  No, that’s dumb thinking.  Lance is confident and loud about himself.  It’s all or nothing, and he’s got a lot to show.  Keith should hit himself for thinking otherwise. He turns on his stomach and rests his eyes, glad to know that he was on good terms with his friends again.

* * *

Keith sways his cane back and forth, Pidge jumping over it like always.  Lance was counting out loud with Hunk as the four walk down the sidewalk to wherever Lance was dragging them.  Cosmo stops Keith in front of a crosswalk while everyone else tried running across. They made it and saw Keith just standing there.

“Come on, run for it!”  Lance calls.

“Like hell!”

“It’s broken anyways!”

“Oh fuck where are you taking us?!”  Keith asks. “Come on Cosmo, move forward.”  Cosmo growls at him, saying it wasn’t safe. Keith groans and waits for his dog.  He trained this thing too well.

After a few minutes Cosmo deemed it safe and the two walked to the other side.  Keith pat’s Cosmo’s head, rewarding him for being a good service dog, then continued onward.

“How well is this boy trained?”  Lance asks.

“Pretty well.  I worked hard to train him to lead me anywhere.  He even remembers locations by name.”

“Impressive.  I can barely teach myself anything.”  Lance comments, Keith chuckles at that.  “No I’m serious! You can teach a dog all this meanwhile I can’t do simple shit.  Jeez, I hate you sometimes.”

“What did I do?”  Keith asks with a chuckle.

“God has blessed you, you know that?”  Lance says, Keith was now confused. Before he could say anything Lance kept going.  “You’re good looking, smart, funny, and have a sexy voice. Why must you be blessed with so many things?”

“Makes up for my lack of sight.”

“Bullshit.  It should’ve been one trade off.  You are like a jackpot.” Lance points out.  Keith confusion turned into something more on the lines of touched.  He usually thought of himself as useless, now he feels better about himself.

Lance stops everyone and points.

“Ta da~”  He sings. “Welcome to _La Plaza_!”  He says.  Everyone looks at the small brick/clay building, weird windows, doors, and a few smokers outside.  Keith waves his hand to get rid of the smell, a man saw that and chuckles.

“What’s wrong _mijo_?  Don’t like the smell of smoke?”  A strong accent spoke up. Lance waves them off.

“ _Bueno, hay al menos cinco de ustedes aquí._ ”

“ _Haces un buen punto mijo._ ”  He responds with a smile.  The others with him laugh.

“What?  You understand them?”

“Spanish is my first language.”  Lance tells Keith. “Don’t worry, they all speak english as well.”  He says as they follow him in. “This place is home away from home, you feel me?”

“No.”  Pidge says.

“Okay then, you don’t understand.”  He sees a young man with menus walk up.

“Table for- Lance!”

“Marco!”  He jumps into the lanky man’s arms.  “Guys, this is my older brother, Marco.”  He says happily, Marco waves.

“Yo.”  He says, then puts Lance in a headlock.  “I hope he doesn’t cause too much trouble.  Cause this little _puto_ causes more mischief than ya think.”

“ _Espero que ardas en el infierno, pedazo de mierda._ ”  Lance hisses.  Marco laughs then looks at everyone.

“Okay so let’s see if I can get these guys down.  That’s Hunk.”

“Hi again Marco.”

“The tiny one must be Pidgey… am I right?”

“Pidge.  Stop telling people my name is Pidgey.”  She says, Lance smiles sweetly. Marco looks up at Keith.  He thought for a moment, then snaps his fingers.

“Oh, this is the guy you have a major cru-”

“Nonononono!”  He covers Marco’s mouth.  “You zip yer lips!” Marco licks Lance’s palm, Lance retracts his hands.  “Ew…”

“Keith.”

“He talks about us?”

“Oh yeah, he talks about you _a lot~_ ”  Marco says slyly, Lance steps on his foot, hard.  Marco yelps and held his foot. “ _El hijo de puta…_ ”

“So where are we sitting?”  Lance asks like nothing happened.

“Let me see… over there might be good.  It’s away from anyone who has a problem with “Goliath” over there.”  He points at Cosmo, who tilts his head to the side.

“He’s not big, he’s a wolf.”  Keith says. Marco nods.

“I’ve seen it all.  Okay to the table.” He shouts and points.  Just by voice alone Keith could tell Marco and Lance were related.  Both were loud and out there.

The four, plus Cosmo, all sat down and looked through the menu.  Lance read it out to Keith, since the whole thing was spanish. Pidge and Hunk were reading the best they could.  

“So what do you like?”

“Um… tacos?”

“Are you serious?  Oh _mi amor,_ that’s it.  We’re getting you some food, real food.”  Lance said and looked through the menu. He makes a humming noise as he flips through the menu.  A waiter comes up and smiles at them.

“Hello, drinks?”  He asks. Keith spoke up.

“Coke?”

“Is Pepsi okay?”  He asks, Keith nods.  “Okay, anything else?”

“I want a root beer.”  Hunk said.

“Get me a Sierra Mist.”  Pidge says.

“Raspberry Ice Tea.”  Lance says, the waiter nods and walks off.  Lance kept looking through the menu. The waiter came back with their drinks and a bowl of chips and dip.  Keith head that and felt for the chip basket.

The three laughed at him while he found a chip and felt for the salsa bowl.  Lance puts it in front of him. Keith smiles victoriously, thinking he found it himself, and ate.  The waiter comes back and held up a clipboard, ready to take their orders. Lance raises his hand, knowing what he wanted.

“Some cheesy empanadas.”  Lance said, the waiter looks at him.

“ _Eso es mucha comida para un chico pequeño como tú._ ”  The waiter said, Lance chuckles.

“ _Es para nosotros dos._ ”  He says while pointing at both him and Keith.  The waiter nods.

“I want a chicken quesadilla.”  Pidge says.

“Ultimate burrito for me.”  Hunk says. The waiter nods happily and walks off.  Keith picks at a chip and noticed they left.

“Did I get anything?”

“I ordered for you.  You’re eating something besides a taco.”

“I rarely get mexican food.”  Keith admits as he ate another chip, he tosses one of the floor for Cosmo, who caught it and ate it happily.

Marco walks out with the waiter later and hands them their food.  He sat next to Pidge and started talking to them as they ate.

“So what brings you all out here anyways?”

“Lance dragged us out here.”  Pidge says as she dips an enchilada in the salsa dip.  Lance smiles.

“Wanted them to know that there are better places to get good food that isn’t Taco Bell.”

“Forgive me.”  Keith says. “What’s in front of me?”

“Those are empanadas.”  Lance said. “Filled with beef and cheese.  Spinach on top.” He tells him. Keith picks at it with his fork, wondering if it’s good.  Keith opened one up and kept picking at it.

Lance kept watching, thinking it was kind of precious how Keith kept picking at it.  Lance scoops some up on his fork and lifts it.

“Say ah~”  He sings. Keith jumps a bit and tensed.  He opens his mouth a bit, Lance puts it in and lets him taste it.  Keith’s face lit up a bit, it tasted really good. He picks at it again, trying to get some more.  “Scoop it up Keith, you shredded the thing open.” Lance says.

Keith began to eat the entire thing.  Lance took one and ate it properly. Marco watches Keith eat like a pig.

“Damn bro, that man can eat.”

“He can, but he’s still so cute, isn’t he~”  Lance messes with some of Keith’s hair that was sticking out of his hood.  Keith faces his, giving a small pout. “Don’t deny it Keith.”

“Yeah, such a cutie.”  Pidge says in a mocking manner.  Lance stuck his tongue out. Hunk practically destroyed his burrito, almost halfway done with it.  “Jeez Hunk, slow down.”

“I can’t help it, it’s so good!”  He says. “By the way, has the drama died down yet?”

“What drama?”  Keith asks.

“Plax, lately she’s been upset.  Everyone on the dance teams worried about her.”  Hunk said. “Did something happen?” He asks, everyone went quiet.  The two who knew nothing about it just sat there in confused silence.  Lance grabs Keith’s hand, silently asking him if he was comfortable with sharing.

Keith shook his head, he didn’t want to.  Lance lets go and continues to eat silently.

“She’ll get over it.”  Lance said. “She just heard something she didn’t want to hear.”

“Sounds rough.”  Hunk says, Pidge rolled her eyes.

“That whole group is full of drama queens.”  She says as she finished her first enchilada.  “Makes sense, you all talk nonstop about soulmates.”

“We want to meet ours so badly.”  Lance says. “Every-” He looks at Keith.  “Almost everyone wants to find their soulmates.  Right Marco?”

“Yeah, I’m still lookin for her.”  He says. “I mean Luis and Veronica were happy to find theirs.”  

“I remember seeing their faces when they brought their soulmates to visit.”  Lance says, Marco chuckles a bit and nods.

“I know, they were smiling so much, I swear they were gonna break.”

“They smile you know.”

“Veronica smiles at you cause she likes you.”  Marco says. Lance bats his eyes innocently. “Bat your pretty grey eyes somewhere else.”  He sassed, Lance laughs. The others joined in and talked about random things, and Keith was happy that the drama between him and Plax finally died down in their group.  It was calm again, though he wishes the soulmate talk would die down.

* * *

Keith lays on his bed after hanging out with his friends that night.  Cosmo tackles him on the bed, Keith laughs and wrestles with the wolf.  Shiro walks in and sees the two playing.

“I’m guessing you two had a good time.”

“We did, right buddy?”  He asks, Cosmo licks his face.  “Yeah, we had fun.”

“So what happened?”

“I tried empanadas.  They were good.”

“What is an empanada?”

“Some dish Lance made me try.  It’s like a soft, cheesy taco. Something like that.”  Keith tried to describe it. “We talked to Lance’s brother, talked about school and other things.  Just stupid things.”

“I’m glad you’re opening up more.”  Shiro says. “It’s nice seeing you being social and interacting with people.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”  Shiro pats his head.  “I’m proud of you.” He tells him, Keith’s face lit up.  He looks down with a smile, Shiro could see his cheeks dusted a darker grey.  He knew Keith didn’t hear those words often, so they meant something special to him.

Shiro left him after that, Keith smiles and hugs Cosmo, he felt like he was walking on air.  He was so happy. He lays down, Cosmo right next to him, he falls asleep and drifts off into a pleasant dream, where everything sounded so nice and fun.  He could hear his friends talking, his parents talking to one another, and he could hear his family laughing in the distance. It was a dream he never wanted to wake from.

* * *

“Done, ya happy?”  Lance sassed, Hunk nods.

“Very.”

“I must say, it looks nice.”  Allura said as she re-read the paper.  “What’s your project about anyways?”

“To be honest I bullshitted my way into this.  I’m just talking about psychological stuff that I don’t even understand.”  Lance tells her.

“For being a half assed paper, it sounds legit.  You chose your words carefully, honestly I’m surprised english isn’t your first language.”

“Yeah, it surprised me too when I first met him.”  Hunk says.

“Yeah yeah, I sound like a fucking poet.”  Lance says as he turns it in online. “Done, now I don’t have to look at it.”  The two lazily clap for him, glad he got it done but still disappointed it took him so long.

“So what are you two doing after classes?”  Allura asks.

“I have dance, so I’m busy for an hour.”

“That’s all?”  She asks. Hunk looks at her.

“You want to do something with us?”

“Well I don’t know much about what you city kids do, so I want to explore and see what people my age do.”

“You want to hang out…”  Lance simplifies it. She nods happily.  Lance and Hunk look at eachother. “We can, but it’ll have to be after dance for me.”  He says. “I’ll text Pidge and Keith, see if they’re down.”

“More friends?”  She asks, then stops.  “Oh don’t tell me he’ll bring his dog…”

“It’s his seeing eye dog.”  Lance points out. He texted everyone, he knew Pidge would take a bit to respond, Keith was immediate.  Asking what they were doing and why he should go. Lance responds with a ‘because you love me’. Keith didn’t respond, Lance began to panic and text like a maniac, wanting Keith to respond to him.  Keith finally did, with a ‘stop it that ding is annoying’.

Lance smiles and gave a thumbs up, saying Keith is probably going to show.  When the period was over the three separate, promising to meet up outside the gym and four thirty.  Pidge responds with a thumbs up emoji. Lance smiles, it was a go. They were all gonna hang out tonight, and add Allura to the mix.  She’ll fit into their wacky group for sure.

* * *

Shiro watches as Keith adjusts his hood.  He grabs Cosmo’s leash and calls him over.

“You need to start wearing your heavier coat.”

“Don’t scold me, it ain’t winter yet.”  Keith says.

“Not your winter one, your heavier coat.  You know, what people wear in the fall?”

“Shut up, I’m fine.”  Keith says. “I don’t know what they’re planning, but I’ll be home soon.”

“Okay, have fun.”

“I’ll try.”  He walks out with Cosmo, the wolf looking around and leading him to the high school, even though Keith knows the route by heart.  They walk past everyone on the sidewalk with them, past the busy cars and buildings, it was a nice afternoon.

They made it to the building, Keith knew he was a little early so he sat outside again and waited for his friends to show up.  He heard people coming out, all laughing and talking. He pets Cosmo, the wolf looking at everyone with his usual smile.

He heard a male’s voice saying something about ‘the dude in the hood’, he assumes that it’s either him, or some other dude in a hood.  He hopes for option two.

“Hey you!”  One man shouts, Keith pretends he doesn’t hear them.  “You’re the one who bullied Plax.” He didn’t say a word.  “We know you ain’t deaf! Hey!” He kicked Keith’s leg, Keith made a pained noise.  Damn dancers and their legs. He got up and tried walking away, Cosmo growling at them.  

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”  Another male asks. Okay, how many dudes are in dance?  Keith heard the other one come up and headlock him. Keith fought against him.  The other few surrounded him and either punched or yelled at him.

Saying things like how dancers stick together.  No one messes with their friend, and Plax didn’t do anything wrong.  Cosmo nipped and growled at the boys, that only made them leap away from the wolf.  Keith did land a hit or two, but for the most part he flailed about, trying to get away.  Sight would’ve been a good thing right about now. The group didn’t stop till they heard another voice cut through.

“What the hell are you doing?!”  One guy got thrown back. They all stopped when they saw who did that.  “Put him down!” Keith recognized that voice, then he was dropped. Lance smacks one of the boys in the face, Keith flinched, it sounded painful.

“Are you all out of your fucking minds?!”  He snaps.

“He was the one who-”

“I don’t care!  I don’t fucking care!”  Lance sounded furious. “You lay a hand on him again so help me I will take you out myself, are we clear?!”  The group nods, Lance just glares at them. His eyes were warning enough. They all bolt off.

Keith got up, all sore.  Cosmo whimpers, wondering if his owner was alright.  Lance helped him up and looks at him. Keith’s hood was off, he lazily reached for it and put it back up.  Lance helped him put it over his eyes.

“Are you okay?”  Lance’s voice was back to its usual calm self.  Keith nods. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”  Keith faces Lance, his full face now showing.  “Thanks.” He says weakly.

Then… something happened.  Keith’s face was colored differently, his grey eyes… weren’t grey.  Lance froze, he felt stiff, like he couldn’t move.

“This was a mistake.”  No… no… “I’m gonna go home, talk to you later.”  This… this isn’t true… right?

Keith walks off.  Lance stood motionless, seeing everything around him looking different.  He felt sick, like he was gonna vomit. It was too much at once. He slowly looks down at his hands… they… they were colored.

Lance shook his head, this can’t be true.  He quickly ran out of the scene, praying that this was some dream he was in, and he wants to wake up now.


	11. Beige

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad you are all excited for where the story is going so far. Seeing you all happy and excited makes me happy for writing it... and it makes me feel like the biggest piece of shit for what I'm going to do now...

Lance ran home, passing all the scenery around him.  All the lights and colors that are now haunting him. He bursts through the door, scaring everyone around him.  He ran into the bathroom and quickly looks into the mirror. He just stood there, looking at the person before him.  They were dark skinned, darker colored hair, and their eyes. Lance leaned in, a bright color filled them in.

He slaps himself, he felt that… it hurt.  He turns away and fell to the floor crying.  This has to be some sick joke. Why? Why does God want to torture him?  He doesn’t even look good in color, what kind of sick game is this?

“Lance?!”  Luis ran in.  “Lance what’s wrong?”

“ _Hermano…_ ”  Lance whimpers.  Luis got down and sat next to his little brother, he pulls him in for a hug.  Lance began to sob, his cries were loud even though his wall of a brother muffled him.  “He won’t even love me! This isn’t fair, I hate this!” He cries out, Luis pulls him away to get a good look at him.

“He didn’t want his soulmate!  Why is my partner a man who doesn’t even want me?!”  He hugs Luis again. “I-I don’t know what to do!” He wails.  Luis was shocked, mainly because Lance had found his soulmate.  But instead of showing his family, he comes home crying and shouting nonsense.

Everyone came in and saw Lance was a crying mess.  Rachel walks in upset.

“I had to dig into your locker to grab your shit a- Lance?!”  She runs to her twin brothers side. “What happened?”

“I-I don’t- I don’t-”

“He just ran in here like a madman, now he’s balling.”  His grandma spoke up. Rachel got closer and grabs his shoulder.

“Lance?”  She said quietly.  He didn’t respond, he kept crying till he was sure he couldn’t cry anymore.

* * *

Shiro was helping Keith bandage up, he got a few good bruises, but nothing serious.

“I want to know who did this to you.”

“A bunch of high schoolers.”

“I don’t care how old they are Keith, they attacked you, a disabled man.  That’s a crime.” Shiro tells him. Keith glares at something, he doesn’t know what, but it’s something.

“The only one who knows who they are is Lance, if you wanna know who they are then ask him.”

“I’ll call him in a minute.”  Shiro says with a sigh. “Just let me bangage this last bruise.”

“I must look hot.”

“You look like shit.”  Shiro says as he finishes up.  “Alright put your shirt back on, I’m calling.”  He says and walks away. Keith slides his shirt on and listens to Shiro call.  Cosmo puts his head on Keith’s lap, feeling bad for not protecting his owner. Keith didn’t hold it against him, he trained Cosmo not to attack anyone.  Scaring them off, yes, but full on attack? No.

If they found out a wolf attacked some kids they’d take him away and kill him.  Keith didn’t want that. He loved his dog too much.

“That’s odd.”

“What?”

“He’s not picking up.”  Shiro says.

“Let me try.”  Keith finds his phone in his bag and pulls it out.  “Siri, call Lance.”

‘Calling…’  It rings a few times, the two wait patiently.  ‘Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message.’  A loud beep, Keith hesitated. He’s not answering?

“Hey Lance, it’s Keith… call me when you get the chance.  Okay?” He stops it. Shiro gave his brother a concerned look, Keith could tell he was.  The two sat in silence, wondering what to do.

Keith got attacked, Lance is being quiet, and the group who beat Keith up are getting away with it.  Shiro pats Keith’s back and leans against him.

“We’ll find out who they are.  I’m not letting a bunch of brats get away with this.”

“I know.”  Keith rests his head on top of Shiro’s.  “I know…”

* * *

Lance woke up the next morning with a realization that everything in his room looked different.  He panics and looks around, wondering why everything loo- oh yeah… that. He groans and lays back down.  His brain still hasn’t adjusted to color.

He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.  Standing he walks towards his dresser and pulls out all his clothes.  When he wants to feel comfortable he puts on leggings and his loose top.  He stops and stares at it in horror.

It looks awful together… like awful.  Lance can not believe he wore this in public.  He throws the unmatching top back in and finds one that matches.  He came across a top that was the same color as his eyes. He put that together, it looked better than the last top.  He puts it on and looks at himself in the mirror, he sighs.

“Lance?”  Veronica walks in.  “You okay?”

“Yeah, just getting ready.”  He says as he looks sadly at the mirror.  Veronica walks next to him and smiles. He sighs.  “I look ugly…” He says. “You can see my freckles when I’m like this…”

“You look beautiful Lance, don’t say otherwise.”  Veronica tells him. “I mean you are the only one in our family with that bright of blue in your eyes.”

“So that’s blue?”

“Yeah, it’s beautiful isn’t it?”

“A waste of a color if you ask me…”  He says as he grabs his jacket and bag.  “I’m off. Rachel! Come on!”

“I’m putting on makeup!  Don’t rush me!” She shouts.  Lance looks in the mirror again.

“I should cover these up.”  He said about his freckles. He walks in the bathroom while his sister was doing her makeup still.  Lance took the foundation and applied it to his face. Rachel gave her brother a look. He noticed and raised an eyebrow, not knowing why she was giving a sour look.

“I thought we promised we’d tell each other when we found our soulmates.”

“Rachel…”  He groans.

“No, you and I promised this.”

“Like ten years ago.”

“I don’t care, you broke our sacred twin code!”

“Stupid twin code.”  Lance grumbles.

“You know we don’t keep secrets from each other.”

“I’m sorry okay?”  He snaps, she gave a sad look.  “Just… I was upset okay?” He said in a quiet voice.  She nods and went back to putting on makeup, he now notices how alike they really are.

Their hair color was different, but their facial structure was the same and their posture was similar.  Only big differences were eye shape and Lance being a lot taller than Rachel. But everything else was similar.

He puts his hand next to hers, she looks and smiles.

“Is it the same color?”

“Yeah.”  He nods. “It is…”  Their touching moment was ruined when Marco walked in and started using the bathroom.  Rachel looks over and groans.

“Marco!   _¡¿Qué diablos?!_ ”  She snaps, Marco looks over.

“I had to pee.”  He says. Lance and Rachel groan and storm out.

“You cannot get any privacy in this tiny house.”  Rachel grumbles, her little brother right behind her.

* * *

“Yeah, thanks for ditching us.”  Pidge hissed over the phone.

“You weren’t there, you don’t know what happened!  Don’t get pissy at me.” Keith hissed back. Pidge went silent, but not because she felt bad, no it was one of annoyance.

“You could’ve stayed though.  You know, your friends, the ones who make it all better?”

“I didn’t want to stay there after I got beat up by a bunch of fucking high schoo-”

“WHAT?!”

“Ow… Pidge…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?  Oh I am so pissed off… Who did this?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do they loo-sound like?”

“Nice save, dumbass.”

“Keith, you should’ve told us.”

“Lance knows who they are.  Ask him, he was the one who saved me.”

“Oh yeah, he’s not out of the dark either.”  She growls. Keith’s eyes widen in surprise.

“What?”

“He wasn’t there either.  Hunk, Allura, and I went to pick him up and boom, he wasn’t there either.  What did happen exactly?”

“I went to the school to meet up with Lance, guys defending my sister came and beat me up, Lance saved me, I went home.”  Keith said briefly. “Not like he tried to stop me.” Silence between the two.

“Oookay, something’s up with Lance.”  She points out, Keith raised a brow at that.

“It’s not unusu-”

“No, something’s up.  You know how obsessed he is with you.”  She points out, Keith didn’t say anything.  He could argue till he’s blue in the face, but it was a fact that Lance practically spoils him with attention.  Keith would be lying if he says he hated that.

Something about Lance makes Keith happy.  He has an approachable aura, he’s goofy like a child.  He kind of acts like someone who helps others, but needs to be taken care of himself.  Keith has no clue why he finds that so charming. But the biggest reason Keith likes him so much is that Lance doesn’t treat him any differently, okay throwing out the obsessive side, Lance did see Keith as a person who can take care of himself.

He never holds back, never watches his language around him, never treats him like a frail kitten, and is genuinely nice to him.  He was the biggest reason Keith started coming out of his shell, he was the one who was persistent and bugged him the most. He started looking forward to Lance’s random texts and calls, calling him those odd pet names, and talking about random things.

Keith has grown to love that, and want it more.  He wants to hear him again.

“Can you tell him I said “hi” and I want to talk to him?”

“Yeah yeah loverboy.”

“I-I’m not a loverboy!”  Keith shouts, clearly embarrassed.  “I just… I miss his voice.”

“Sad.”

“Shut up.  He’s one of my closest friends, besides you.”

“Damn right, I’m your best friend.  He ain’t taking that from me.”

“I know.”  Keith smiles.  “See you later Pidge.”

“Yeah, see you real soon.”

* * *

She hung up and looks around the lunch table.  Allura walks over and puts her tray down.

“Hello my fellow gal pal.”  She says and sat across from her.

“Hey.”  Pidge waves.  “What’s up?”

“Nothing.  Though I wanted to say last night was quite fun.”

“Glad we could show you around.”  She says. Hunk and Lance walk in together, both holding a tray of food.  Lance sat down and picked at his pasta while Hunk began digging in. Allura and Pidge look at one another, then back at their friends.

“Uh… hey guys.”

“Wazzub.”  Hunk said, mouth full of food.  Lance waves.

“Hey Lance, I got off the phone with Keith-”  Lance immediately tensed as soon as that name left her lips.  “Aaand uh… he told me… he got attacked… and, okay what is up with you?”

“Keith was attacked?!”  Hunk asks with worry, Allura looks over with the same concern.

“Not now Hunk.  Lance, what is up?”

“I-It’s nothing Pidge.”  He was nothing if not a good liar.  His mother always said it was like a devil disguised as an angel, he doesn’t get that now that he sees what he looks like in color.

“Okay…”  Pidge was still skeptical, she was smart, and Lance hated it.  She truly does remind him of his mom, a smaller version of his mom.  Both are smart and know when something is up. “So who are the guys who attacked him?”

“It was about six of them.  All younger teammates, so they were afraid when I came in.”

“Why is that?”  Allura asks.

“One of the older team members, oldest boy in fact.  I’m the only male Senior in that group.” Lance says with a smile.  “Don’t worry, I reported them this morning. They’ve been dealt with, probably been kicked off the team for pulling that stunt.”  He takes a bite of pasta.

“Really?”  Pidge asks.

“No one messes with my precious baby.  No one.” Lance says in a dark tone. “If so much as a hair is misplaced on his beautiful head, I will lose my shit.”

“He said you saved him, is that true?”

“I threw one of the guys back.”  Lance says. Everyone looks horrified.  “Like I said, no one messes with him.”

“Well whatever.”  Pidge points out. “We should go to that cafe again.  Allura didn’t get to go there.”

“That sounds fun!”  Allura comments. Hunk nods in approval, the other two smile.  They had a plan tonight.

* * *

Keith grabs his hoodie and got ready to go out.  Pidge told him that they were going out to the cafe that night and was told he had to be there.  He brushes his hair and pulls his hood over his eyes. Then he messed with it, trying to fix it. Then moved it back, he wishes he knew what he looked like.

Shiro walks in and sees Keith fretting over his appearance, he raised an eyebrow.  Keith didn’t even know Shiro was there. The older man walks up and pulls his hood down.  He jumps in shock.

“What are you doing?”  Shiro asks with a chuckle.

“A…”  His eyes shift away, his face flushed.  “I… I’m just getting ready to go out tonight.”

“You going out?”  Shiro asks. “May I ask why you’re freaking out over your appearance?”

“I wasn’t.”  Keith quickly defends himself.  Shiro smirks, Keith could tell that he was.

“Yeah okay.”  He nods. “Want me to help?”

“Really?”  Keith asks, then jumps back to being defensive.  “I-I mean, sure. Whatever.” Shiro starts fluffing Keith’s hair and puts his hood back up.  He smiles and looks at Keith.

“You look good.”  He says with a smile.  “Now will you tell me why you were freaking out over how you look?”

“Bye Shiro.”  Keith walks out the door with Cosmo.  Shiro chuckles and watches his brother out the door.

* * *

Lance was kind of shocked when Keith walked over.  He looked nervous, like he was waiting for something to happen.  Cosmo runs up to the others and gives them kisses. Allura freaks out when the dog went after her, Keith faces Allura’s direction.

“Get your mutt away from me!”

“Cosmo, back.”  Keith says. Cosmo whimpers and slowly walks back to Keith, Lance gave Allura a sad look.

“Aw Allura.  Look at him, he’s so sad.”  He says, Keith’s eyes widen when hearing Lance.

“I don’t care!  I hate dogs!” She says, Cosmo whimpers again.

“But Allura, he’s such a good do-”  Keith walked up and hits Lance’s foot with his cane, he noticed Keith’s distressed face.  He looked so sad and confused, those eyes screamed worried. “Can I help you?”

“Are you okay?”  Keith asks. “You’ve been ignoring all of my texts…”  He says, everyone looked at Lance. Not like him at all.

“I’m fine.”  Lance lies, Keith could tell.

“Did I do something wrong?”  He asks in a small voice, Lance made a weird wheezing noise.  He can’t stand seeing Keith look so sad.

“N-No, Keith I’m fine.  Really.” Lance says with a big smile.  Hunk was petting Cosmo while the two talked.  Cosmo was happier now that someone was giving him attention.  They began to walk through the town, Lance rubs his eyes, the signs were an assortment of colors.

Keith taps next to him, Pidge beginning to jump rope like usual.  Allura watched it with interest, it was weird to see that. Then Cosmo decided to greet her again, she shrieks.  No one helped her that time, they all let her get chased by the happy wolf.

The group walked into the cafe, seeing the spot was open.  They ran to it, Allura looking around with wonder. Nothing like her home at all.

“So who wants to get drinks?”  Pidge asks.

“I can-”

“I’ll get them, come on Allura.”  Hunk interrupts Lance and drags Allura away with him, Lance looks betrayed.  He sighs and sat down. Keith right next to him, he faces Lance and gave a distressed look.

“Are you sure I didn’t do anything?”

“Keith, it’s fine, really.”  He says. Lance now notices how beautiful Keith really was.  Big eyes that were purple in color, he learned that the color was purple.  Black hair against pale skin, dark purple hoodie on him looked way too good.  “I’m sorry about not responding, family issues.”

“You sure?”  He asks. Lance nods.

“I’m sure _Cariño._ Don’t worry.”  Lance said. The two come back with drinks for everyone.  A mocha for Lance, a black coffee with hazelnut for Pidge.  A smores latte for Allura, and two hot chocolates. One for Keith, the other for Hunk.

They all sat down and started to talk.  Keith waits a few minutes before leaning against Lance.  It was common for them to do whenever they hung out like this, but now it was different.  Lance stiffened up.

Keith whispers to him.

“Something is up.”  He says. Lance shook his head, Keith pouts.  Lance wraps an arm around him and pulls him closer, a silent way of saying he’s fine.  Keith smiles softly and nuzzles into Lance’s neck. Pidge smirks and took a picture.

“Aw, you two are sooooo cute~”

“Shut up.”  Lance grumbles, Keith took a sip and lets out a content sigh.  He was being cute, too cute for his own good. “Stop being adorable.”

“Oh, I’m adorable?”

“Yes, you’re always cute, now stop being cute.”  He says with a smirk, Keith gave his own.

“If I’m always cute then I just can’t stop.”

“Why you-”  Lance clasps Keith’s face between his hands and squished his cheeks.  Keith stuck his tongue out. Lance shook his face lightly. “Looking at you now, you aren’t that cute.”

“I know.  I’m sexy.”  Keith says with confidence.  Lance’s eyes went wide, only the ones with sight could see his face change.  Keith was the only one who kept his smirk. He was glad Keith can’t see, however with friends like his…

“Lance, why is your face a darker grey?”  Allura asks with a smirk, Lance gave his darker friend a look.  She smiles and bats her eyes innocently. Keith’s mouth went up in confusion.

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“N-No!”

“Oh yeah, it’s a good thing.”

“Hunk I trusted you!”  Lance squeaks. Keith chuckles, a low one that should be illegal, and curls back into Lance.  He pouts at his traitorous friends. Allura took out her tablet and turns youtube on.

“Let’s watch something together.”  She says. Everyone nods and got up to move to the couch with Lance and Keith.  Pidge sat next to her best friend, Allura sat next to Lance. Hunk lays behind them and squeezes his head between Allura and Lance with a big grin on his face.  Allura pats his head, he gave her a winning smile.

“What should we watch?”

“I like watching people get owned.”  Keith says.

“Yeah, he loves watching those.”  Pidge says with a smirk. He pats her face, she licks his hand.  Keith pulls his hand away with disgust. She hugs his waist and watches Allura tap on the keyboard to find something.

She clicks on a random video and the five watched whatever was on.  Pidge was the first to finish her drink, she hands the cup to Cosmo, the wolf takes his happily and lays down.  The video plays, with the sound of chewed up styrofoam as background noise.

The group was so engrossed in their video that they didn’t notice two people walking up to them.

“Order for the dumb girl in the big glasses!”  An over-the-top voice said. The group looks over, Matt stood there with a tray of food and a smile.  Pidge laughs and lets go of Keith to hug her brother. He chuckles, wrapping one arm around her waist, using the other one to hold the tray.  Silver walks up and takes the tray from him and puts it on the table.

“What are you doing here?”  Pidge asks. Allura pauses the video and watches the two talk with the others.

“Shiro said that his little brother was going out, figured you’d be here.  Lately you’ve been talking about this place.”

“Oh, well it’s nice.”  She says. “Oh oh, Matt!  Meet my friends!” She points at them with excitement.  “That girl is my newest friend, Allura.”

“Hello.”  Allura waves.

“That’s Hunk.”  She points at her friend, who was already eating one of the treats.  He waves, awkward smile on his face. “And that boy Keith is cuddling with is Lance.”

“Heyo.”  Lance gave a two finger salute.  Keith happily waves at the two, but his wave was way off, they took it anyways.

“Hey Keith.”

“Hello Keith.”  They both said.

“So who are these two?”  Lance asks. Pidge gestures to Matt and Silver.

“This guy is a clone of mine-”

“You’re my clone if anything.”

“Heh, he’s my big brother.  Matt. And this lovely lady is his soulmate, call her Silver.”  She says, they both wave again. Everyone nods. “Why did you buy us treats?”

“Do I need a reason to spoil my cute little sister?”  He asks while fluffing her hair, she makes a weird “ack” noise and tried to bat him away.  Keith heard snacks and randomly reached for the tray. Meanwhile Matt and Silver kept talking to Pidge.  They spoke for a few minutes about whatever, some of it the group didn’t understand.

Matt’s attention went to Keith, who was still reaching.  Lance got close to him and whispered, Keith mutters something back.  Then Lance reached over and took a muffin. He puts it in front of his face, Keith took a bite instead of taking it.  Lance took a bite of it and watches Allura’s tablet, they turned the video back on.

Matt raised an eyebrow at the interaction, Pidge looks at him then turns to see what he’s looking at.  She saw the two still sitting there normally.

“Oh yeah, Lance is very close to Keith.  He’s practically obsessed with him.”

“And Keith accepts it?”  Silver asks.

“I guess, he hasn’t complained yet.”  Pidge says. The two soulmates looked at them, then back at Pidge.

“Well we’d better get going, Silver’s gotta go to work bright and early, and I’ve got a big meeting with our partners tomorrow.  Tell Shiro he’s got to be ready tomorrow, kay Keith?”

“Okay.”  Keith says, mouth full of muffin.  The two left, leaving the group to their video session.  Pidge went back to her spot, clinging to Keith’s waist. She began to watch the two with curious eyes.  They didn’t really act any different, Lance was still clingy, Keith was accepting the attention. It was all normal, well almost.  Lance doesn’t seem as playful as usual, in fact he seems tense.

No one seems to notice it, especially Keith.  He was leaning against him, looking as happy as ever.  Eyes closed, grin on his face, he was content. Lance finishes the muffin and puts his arm around Keith’s shoulder.  She cuddles into his waist, Keith pats her head.

She doesn’t bother with it, however her brother’s skeptical looks didn’t help her own suspicions.

They all watched videos till it was closed to midnight.  Coran went to pick up Allura, a few minutes of speaking to Keith.  After that the group walks for what feels like forever to get to Lance’s car.  They made it and crawl in. Pidge took shotgun, the other two sat in back with the giant wolf.  Cosmo pokes his head in between the two up front. Pidge pats his head, Lance chuckles.

“Hey _El Lobo._ ”  They drove in silence, Lance kept squinting whenever they past a sign or large light.  This was going to take some getting use to. He loves the color around him, it’s beautiful, but his eyes have yet to adjust to it all.  They got to Keith’s place first, he hops out with Cosmo.

“See you all later.”

“Yeah, bye Keith.”  Lance says quickly. Keith frowns, not like Lance to have such a short goodbye.

“Uh… I’ll… I’ll talk to you later.”  He goes into the apartment, hearing his friends drive away.  Shiro was up and eating popcorn, watching scary shit again. “Reminder, meeting with partners.”  

“Oh shit!”  Shiro turned the tv off and ran to his room.  Keith chuckles. He walks to his room and puts everything away.  He took his jeans off and curls up in bed. Cosmo hops up and lays at his owners feet.

Shiro walks in and curls up behind Keith, he groans in annoyance.

“Go to your room!”

“But Momo-”

“For the last time: She.  Is. Not. Real!”

“... … you don’t know that.”

* * *

The two watch Hunk walk into his house, his family looking out the window.  They wave at Lance and Pidge, the two wave back and drove off. Pidge looks at Lance, he looks exhausted.

“Are you okay?  You were off all day.”  She asks, Lance sighs.

“Yes I’m fine.”

“Liar.”  She says.  One major problem with Pidge, she’s like his mother.  She always knew when Lance was lying, Pidge is no different.  “You never act like this, all mopy and shit.”

“I said I’m fine.”  His voice grew darker.

“Don’t try to intimidate me Lance.”  Pidge sassed, damn talking to a girl sucks when they’re mad, and know you’re lying.  “You’re hurting Keith!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!  Dammit you have no idea how important you are to him!  You are one of the few people in his life that treat him like a normal person, now you’re pushing him away!”  She snaps, Pidge was livid. “I guess you don’t care about him at all! One stupid moment with your dance team and suddenly he doesn’t matter to you anymor-”

Lance slams on the breaks, causing Pidge to flop forward.  She looks over and sees Lance’s cold eyes glaring at her, she crossed a line that people rarely cross.  Now she’s facing the consequences.

“Never say that to me.”  He growls. “I don’t care what you think or what you say, but I do care about Keith.  And I will not have you telling me otherwise.” His look and tone freaked Pidge out. She’s never seen Lance so scary before.  He starts driving again, Pidge sat there in silence. Not wanting to set him off again.

He stops in front of her house, looking at her, how scared she was.  He sighs and hugs her, Pidge makes a soft hiccup and curls into him. He really didn’t mean to frighten her, he’s not in control of his own emotions, but he doesn’t want to bother anyone with it.  Not yet. It’s bad enough his siblings have to deal with him, he doesn’t want to burden anyone else.

The break apart, Lance giving her a soft smile.  She nods, a smile on her face. She hops out and walks into her home.  Lance drove off after he saw her inside.

He looks at all the colors again, groaning at the strain it was causing.  It hurts his eyes, and his brain. Veronica and Luis said it wears off after a few days, Lance can’t stand it, it’s making him sick.  He thought about what Pidge said, how upset she got. He knows that Pidge is protective of Keith. They’ve been friends for years.

He shouldn’t have snapped, she doesn’t know the truth.  But Lance was still going to keep this between him and his siblings.  They don’t even know who his soulmate is. He’ll keep that all to himself.  Cause his relationship with Keith is good where it’s at, friends. That was fine with Lance, no need to complicate things.  He doesn’t need to be fully with his soulmate, his company was enjoyable enough.

Lance thinks that as he stops his car and cries.  Who was he trying to fool?


	12. Crimson

Keith messes with Blacks paw, he didn’t know what to do at the moment.  Feeling lonely and upset, and he doesn’t know why. Before his friends came into his life he lived like this just fine, he’d stay in the house or go out and do something.  Isolate himself from the rest of the world. But now it’s different, he has friends, one who usually bugs him around this time. Now it’s just quiet, nothing… no replies, no calls, nothing.  Keith groans and turns his head into his pillow.

He wanted to know what he did wrong.  Why Lance hates him now, why he won’t talk to him.  Does he see Keith as some loser? An idiot for getting beaten up?  Maybe he’s getting too clingy and Lance needs space. Keith has gotten a lot of Lance’s attention as of late, maybe now he’s getting annoyed.  Maybe the novelty of being his friend is gone and Lance just doesn’t like him anymore.

Keith felt tears form in his eyes, he really hates himself.  Why doesn’t Lance like him anymore? Why is he so unlikable? Why is he so unlucky?  Can’t he have just a few friends, a few people in his life who actually love being with him?

He whimpers in his room, Cosmo sitting on the floor, his head drooped down in sadness.  He doesn’t know how to comfort his owner, now he’s crying.

* * *

Pidge sat in the library, skipping class, which is unlike her.  But nothing else is important, she is getting to the bottom of this.  She knows something is up with Lance, she knows Keith is upset about it.  She’s gonna get to the bottom of it, for the sake of the people she loves, she will solve this mystery!

But she isn’t alone, no she has Matt helping her out.  He texted her late last night, asking her about Lance.

“So that isn’t a soulmate?”  Matt asks over the phone. Pidge sat behind a bookshelf, talking to her brother.

“I think, I don’t know.”  Pidge says. “Keith doesn’t show his eyes to anyone besides the people he is for sure not his soulmate.”

“But he seems like he trusts this Lance guy a lot.”  Matt points out. “Maybe you need to ask Lance what is going on.”

“I can’t, Lance won’t tell me anything.  He’ll just say everything is fine, even though I know for a fact it’s not.”

“Oh.”  Matt stops.  “He’s that type.”

“What type?”

“The one who keeps quiet about personal issues.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Different reasons.  Shiro is the exact same way.”  Matt says. “He’d never tell me anything.  He’d talk about a lot of things, but never about his own issues.  Like I never knew what he was dealing with. For the longest time he didn’t tell me about his soulmate issue, or what was really going on with his parents.”

“Man, sounds rough.”

“Lance will probably tell you what’s going on when he’s ready.”  

“I’m not waiting.”  Pidge says.

“Tough.”  Matt responds.  “I’ve got to get back to work, you be good, and don’t tell Mom you skipped otherwise she will flip on you.”

“I know.”  She sighs. “Love you Matt.”

“Love you too.”  They hung up, Pidge lays back on the bookshelf behind her.  She thumbs over all the old books that have probably been there since her grandparents went to school.  She takes one out and read the middle part of it, not knowing what was going on but she didn’t care. She was just skimming the page anyways.

“Well this is unusual.”  Someone drags Pidge out of her own head.  She looks up to see Lance towering over her.  “What are you doing here at this hour?”

“Didn’t feel like going to class today.”  She says. “What are you doing over here? Didn’t take you as a classic type.”

“Funny.”  He walks over her and looks through the different book titles.  “Something on your mind?” He asks, causing her to jump a bit. “You’re not the type who skips class, I mean, you’re better than me.”

“Says the guy on honor roll.”  Pidge points out.

“Touche.”  Lance says as he picks up a book and looks through it.  “So what’s going on?”

“Just… a little confused at the moment.”  She lies. Lance raised a brow, but doesn’t push it.  “So what are you doing?”

“Spending my freetime looking up shit to do for my project.”  Lance says. “Allura and Hunk are already doing their thing, I need to do mine.”

“What’s their topic?”

“Allura is doing cultural differences, Hunk is doing some sort of engineering thing that is way beyond me.”

“And you’re still bullshitting your way through it?”

“Yup.”  He sat next to her and opens it up.  “My head is killing me…” He says offhandedly.  Pidge chuckles and leans into him, he smiles and rubs her arms.

“School sucks.”

“I know, I’ll have to take a short break from dance until my headache is gone.”  Lance points out. He’s asked his siblings what to do when they see color, for the most part they say just go out and get exposure to color, just so his mind gets use to all of it.

Lance decides to go to the mall, he assumes that it’s colorful, also he needs more clothes.  His wardrobe makes him want to vomit, all an array of colors that don’t match at all, he cannot believe he use to wear those.  He wishes he looked as good as his siblings, they all look so good… and he looks like a goblin of some sorts.

“Hey Pidge, where’s a good place to get clothes?”

“Hm?”  She looks at him, her big brown eyes blink slowly.  “Uh… Silver works at a clothes store, I could show you if you’d like.”

“Really?  Thanks~” He hugs her.  “My little Pidgey saves the day~”

“Eck!  I don’t want your affection!”

* * *

Keith messes with Black while Cosmo plays with his cup again, He’s shredded the thing but Keith or Shiro don’t want to attempt taking it away.  Cosmo threw a fit last time they threw the styrofoam cup away. He rubs the paws between his fingers and sighs, he was so bored at the moment.

Shiro walks in and sees his brother being lazy.

“Huh, that’s new.”

“What is?”

“You laying like a lump and not on your phone.”

“I think it’s dead in my room.”  Keith points in the direction of his room, Shiro sighs.

“Keith, you’ve got to get out of this depression you’re in.”

“I’m not in any sort of depression.”

“Yes you are, look at you.”  Shiro puts a hand on Keith’s leg, he pulls his legs away.  “I want to know what’s wrong.”

“He hates me.”  Keith said. “Lance hates me and I don’t know what I did wrong.”  He admits, Shiro was flat out confused.

“I may not know Lance well, but I know for a fact that that is not true.”

“Then why is he ignoring me?”

“Maybe he’s going through something.”  Shiro says, Keith pouts.

“Maybe I’m being too clingy.”

“Keith, he loves you.  I can tell by the way he constantly comes over and wants your attention.”  Shiro points out. “And I can tell you care an awful lot about him too.”

“Whatever.”  Keith mumbles.

“Call him if you’re worried.”

“No, I don’t want to bother him.”

“Okay then, I’ll call him.”

“No!”  Keith jumps at Shiro, who already moved away and started calling.  Keith got up and chased him around the house, Cosmo joins in happily, their downstairs neighbors are probably complaining about the noise right now.

* * *

Lance’s phone went off, Pidge gave him a look as they walked through the mall.

“Who’s calling?”

“Shiro.”  He picks up.  “Hello?”

“Hey Lance~”

“ _I swear to God I will kill you!_ ”  Keith shouts in the background, Lance could hear running and panting, as well as slight laughter.  He gave his phone a look then puts it back up to his ear.

“Uh… what’s going on?”

“Keith was just concerned about you~”

“ _Was not!_ ”  Keith shouts again.

“Well I appreciate it.”

“He’s gotten awful lonely without you.”

“ _SHIRO SHUT UP!_ ”  That comment made Lance blush, wondering if Keith possibly liked him.  He shook his head, no no they’re just friends. Just friends.

“Well I can talk to him later.”

“Why not now?”

“Cause I’m busy.  I’m hanging out with the gremlin.”

“I’ll bite your ankles.”  Pidge growls.

“I can call him later.”

“But he needs you now~”

“ _I DO NOT!  Don’t listen to him Lance!_ ”

“I won’t _mi bebe._ ”  Lance purrs, he heard Keith shriek and Shiro busting a gut laughing.  Keith heard that one and for some reason he hated it.

“Oh God Lance his face is so dark right now!  He’s embarrassed!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be.  Oh he loves you so much.”

“ _I DO NOT YOU FUCKING LIAR!_ ”  Keith shouts again.  Lance sighs and looks down, Keith really doesn’t feel the same, Shiro is just teasing him.  Like all siblings…

“I’m going now, I call him later.”

“Kay, stay beautiful.”

“Heh, funny joke Shiro.”  He hangs up. “What is up with those two?”

“Shiro and Keith?  Hell if I know.” They walked into the store where Silver works.  Rolo was laying on the counter, lazily flipping through a catalog, Nyma was putting shirts up.  She looks over and smiles.

“Silver, your sister is here.”  She calls, Silver comes from out of left field and into Pidge’s arms.  Lance smiles, the two girls are already seeing each other as family. In most cases siblings don’t usually get along with their siblings soulmates, usually due to their lives being very different.  But Silver and Pidge already call themselves sisters, it’s sweet.

“I brought Lance over to help him pick out new clothes, don’t know why since everything he wears makes him look gorgeous.”  Pidge comments, Silver cocks her head and looks at Lance, looking up and down, she nods.

“I think Nyma and I can find things that look good.”  She looks at her friend. “Right?”

“Oh yeah, let’s see what we’re working with.”  Nyma walks up, Lance swears he’s looking at an angel.  Blonde hair, purple eyes, and pale skin. She wore light make up that made her glow, honestly this girl was a walking angel.

She looks over Lance’s body, closely at his eyes, at everything.  She puts a finger to her lips, Silver looks at him too. Then they run off and found a few pieces of clothes.  A lot of blue, Lance guesses that’s his color. He tries a few things on, he looked decent.

Silver and Nyma squealed at how good he looked.  Lance does a twirl and shows off, Pidge felt some relief, he’s acting like himself, his usual pompous self.  The girls clap, Rolo looks over and gives a thumbs up.

“You look incredible.”  Pidge says. Lance smiles and walks back into the changing room to change back into his old clothes.  He decides to buy a few of things, Pidge watches him pay.

“Can we go to the arcade or something?”

“If you’re paying.”  He says, she smiles. Lance looks at all the clothes while Rolo rings him up, he sees a dress that was an odd color, the same color as all the leaves on the trees.  He runs to it and held it up to Pidge, she gave him a look.

“Oh my God Pidgey!  This would look so cute on you!”  He squeals.

“You sound like my mom… and Matt.”  She groans. He kept holding it up, looking at the cute dress.  The girls coo at how cute she looked with the dress held up to her.  

“Pidgey, you have to get this!”

“Why?  I never look good in dresses.”  She says.

“But it would look so good on you, I mean look at it!  This is so your color!” He froze as soon as he said that.  Pidge just stared at him, total shock. Lance drops the dress, grabbing his bags and ran off out of the mall.  Pidge watches him leave, her shock grew into anger. Why didn’t he tell her?!

The three look at one another, noting how awkward the air has gotten.  They stay silent for a good few seconds before Rolo spoke up.

“So… you gonna buy that?”

* * *

Keith was walking in the park with Cosmo.  Shiro forced him out of the house to get over his depression.  Now Keith was cold, tired, and depressed. He sat on a bench and allows his pet to rest.  Cosmo puts his head on Keith’s lap.

Keith pets Cosmo, feeling better by petting.  Pets are good for your emotional health, Keith forgets that sometimes.  Cosmo is a good friend to have. He was so focused on his dog that he doesn’t notice the people around him.  Minding their own business and ignoring the blind guy, like usual.

“Keith?”  He hears a peppy voice speak up.  “It is you! Aw, how’ve ya been boyo!”

“Coran?”  Keith asks, he feels the man sit next to him.  “I-I’ve been good… I guess.”

“That’s great news!  Now tell me what’s bothering you.”  He says. Keith raises a brow.

“I just said I’ve been doing good.”

“And I know you’re lying.  You and Allura are so alike.”

“Oh.”  Keith says quietly.  He buries his face in Cosmo’s fur, noting the different texture.  Coran waits for Keith to speak, the old man was not going to say anything till Keith tells him what’s wrong.  And Coran has a ton of patience.

“Well…”  Keith starts.  “For starters… I think one of my friends hates me now.”

“That’s not good.”  Coran starts. “Why do you think that?”

“Cause he’s avoiding me.”  Keith says sadly. “He doesn’t call or text me anymore, doesn’t act all excited around me… he’s just not himself.”

“Maybe something’s going on in his life.”  Coran suggests, Keith doesn’t make a move. He keeps his face buried in Cosmo.

“Then why would he hide away from everyone?”

“People deal with emotional problems differently.”  He says. “Allura tends to talk to her mice about her problems, she doesn’t like telling others her issues.”  Keith can relate, he tells Cosmo his problems. But he knows his dog won’t snitch, maybe that’s why Allura talks to her mice.

Coran lets out a sigh, Keith buries his face more into Cosmo’s fur.

“I don’t want him to hate me.”  Keith admits. “What do I do to gain his trust again?”

“Well what did you do to anger him?”

“I dunno…”  Keith says. “I guess I’m becoming to clingy…”  He pulls away from Cosmo. “The last time he brushed me off I felt like crying… I can’t figure out what to do.”  He buries his face in his hands. “If I could only see! Then I could see what was going on! I could see his fucking face and understand what emotion is on there!”  He cries out in frustration.

“I can’t hear his emotions anymore Coran!  I can’t tell what’s wrong! I can’t figure it out, and it’s pissing me off!”  Coran saw a few tears sprinkle from Keith’s face. “I-I want to see! For once in my fucking life I want to see something, someone!  It’s not fair!”

Coran pats Keith’s back, hearing the boy whimper.  He couldn’t hold back anymore, this was flat out hurting him.  The older man let’s him cry, rubbing his back until he had no more tears to shed.

* * *

Lance turns his phone off and sits in his room.  He fucked up in front of Pidge, no way was he going to confront her at school… even though he’ll have to.  He hopes she’ll forget about what he said. If only he could be that lucky.

He lays down and stares at his ceiling.  His siblings all look inside his room, heads from top to bottom in order of age.  Luis, Veronica, Marco, Rachel. It looked like a cartoon.

“Soooo is anyone gonna go talk to him?”  Luis asks.

“I’ve already tried.  Someone else go.”

“I vote Veronica.”  Marco says.

“Why not you?”  She hisses.

“Because I have the class of a village drunk.”

“Why can’t Rachel do it again?”  She asks.

“I just said I’ve been trying!”  She snaps.

“Well try again, you’re the closest to him.”  Luis says.

“Just because I’m his twin doesn’t mean I can make him feel better!”

“You know I can hear you four… right?”  Lance asks in annoyance. The four all slowly walked into his room, he gave them a raised eyebrow.  Lance was without a doubt the sassiest one out of the five, and that’s saying a lot. The four look at one another, then back at their baby brother.

“Listen Lance-”  Luis starts.

“I know what this is about, and I don’t want to talk about it.”  He snaps. Veronica steps in.

“Lance, we know you.  You’re not acting like yourself.”

“What are you talking about?”  He stood up and gestures to himself.  “I’m acting totally normal. You guys are the ones who are acting all crazy, lining up at my door like that.”

“To be fair this is my room too.”  Marco points out.

“Not important.”  Lance says. “Right now I just want to be left alone.”

“But Lance-”

“Goodbye you guys.”  Lance waves them off, done with the conversation.  Three out of the four left, Marco stood there.

“You are not kicking me out of my room.”

* * *

Keith was sloppy during his workout.  Kolivan watched with annoyance. Keith usually listens and does his work with only minimal complaining.  Now he wasn’t working at all, he wasn’t even making sassy comments.

“Enough!”  Kolivan snaps, Keith stops and sits on the floor like a defeated man.  “What is wrong with you? You look like a weak man sitting like that.”

“Sorry.”

“You are not acting like yourself.  Act like a man!”

“I just… I haven’t been feeling good lately.”  Keith tells him. Kolivan picks Keith up by the collar of his shirt.  Keith was lazily lifted off the ground. Kolivan gets him on his feet.  Keith faced Kolivan to show he was listening.

“I have no clue what is wrong with you, but it needs to stop right now.”  Kolivan scolds. Keith stayed quiet. “You are an adult, act like it.” Keith didn’t say anything, but his face said a thousand words.

Kolivan was done with it.  He ends their workout early and Keith went home.  He got Cosmo and walks out the door.

* * *

Lance looks around the next day, hoping not to run into his friends.  He knows Pidge told the others, and he was not going to talk about it.  They’ll make him talk about it, he knows Hunk will make him. Lance decided to hide in the gymnasium during his free hour.

He looks around, making sure no one could see him.  So far, he was good.

“Lance!”  Now he’s walking faster.  “Lance, get back here!” Lance kept walking, faster.  Walking faster, faster.

“Lance, I see you!”  Pidge shouts and ran after him.  He began to run. Running, running, running.  “Fuck you Lanky boy!” She was catching up to him somehow.  Sheer determination.

Lance made it to the locker room, he sighs in relief.

“Lance!”  She runs in… oh yeah, she doesn’t care.  She grabs Lance’s ear and pulls him out and to a place more private.  She pushes him against a wall and glares at him. Lance now notices she was wearing the dress.

“Aw, you look so adorable!  I knew it would look good on yo-”

“Save it.”  She snaps. “You know this is green, don’t you.”  Lance tries to play dumb.

“Green?  What is that?”  He asks. “Looks grey to me-”

“Lance!”  He flinched at that.  “Everyone who sees color knows that green is my color.”  She tells him. “You know what color this is.”

“No… no I don’t.”

“You can see color!  You lying asshole! No wonder you’ve been acting weird, you found your soulmate!”

“Pidge please-”

“How could you keep this a secret from us?!  I thought you’d be telling everyone the news that you found your soulmate!”  She looked so upset. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“Cause it’s none of your business!”  He finally snaps. “Just leave me alone, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“No!”  She grabs his arm, though that didn’t stop him cause he was strong enough to pull her around like she’s nothing.  “Who is it?”

“Drop it.”

“Lance just tell me!”  She says. “Why are you keeping your soulmate from your friends?!”

“What’s the point?!”  He snaps. “He doesn’t want me!  Hell he doesn’t know I’m his soulmate!”

“What are you talking about?  That doesn’t make any se-” Then her eyes grow wide.  She looks at Lance with a look of pity. “You can’t be… oh man… Lance I’m so sorry.”

“Just drop it.”

“You can’t keep this from him!”

“So what am I supposed to do, tell him?  He’ll hate me forever if I do that!”

“That’s not true!  I’m sure he’ll be happy knowing that you’re his soulmate!”

“No, he won’t be!  He doesn’t want his soulmate, and I’m fine just being his friend!  I don’t want to ruin that!”

“Oh bullshit Lance!”  She snaps. “We all know you love him!  You want to be with him, admit it!”

“This isn’t your problem, so don’t get yourself involved!”

“Hate to burst your bubble Lance, but this is my problem.  You are one of my friends, and Keith is my best friend. I can’t not get involved in this!”

“Not your relationship, not your problem!”

“You need to tell him the truth!  He thinks you hate him now!” She tells him.  “And you think the best thing to do is push him away?!”

“I’m not doing that!”

“Yes you are!  Admit it, you are not acting like yourself!”  That got Lance to back away and look down. “Lance, you can’t keep this from everyone.  You’re hurting Keith, and yourself.”

“It’s fine.”  His voice cracks.

“No it’s not.”  Pidge walks up and takes his hand.  “You know… I’m glad you’re Keith’s soulmate.  You’re perfect for him.”

“No I’m not…”

“Since day one you’ve had such a strong connection with him.  I’m surprised I didn’t catch on sooner. I guess you were right, your soulmate was close all along.”  She looks at Lance. “You’re going to have to say something. I don’t know how Keith will take it, but it’s only fair he knows.”

“But-”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you… okay?”  She asks. Lance grew a small smile and nods, he doesn’t know how he’ll break it to Keith, but he’ll think of something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long! I started my new job, but I'm still working my old job so I'm twice as exhausted. All I wanna do is sleep, and lately that's what I've been doing. :(  
> Anyways I'm still writing my other stories... but my computer won't load anything and I keep giving up and taking breaks... too many breaks. Yeah, enjoy the chapter and I promise to update sooner  
> Also thank you shadow_wyvern for the beautiful fanart!  
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/157995740@N07/45521506735/in/dateposted-public/)


	13. Turquoise

“So where are we going?”  Allura asks while sitting in Lance’s car.  Lance didn’t look at when he answers.

“We’re going to pick up the others then going to the arcade.”  Lance tells her. She looks out the window and huffs.

“I don’t want to go.  I hate games.” Allura says, Lance chuckles at that.

“Do you really hate them?  Or are you just not good at them?”  He asks, she looks over and pouts. He got her.

“I-I like puzzles more.”  She says. “I just… never got to go out and play games.”  Lance continues to listen, interested about this little story.  “You know… you guys are the first real friends I’ve ever had. Back home I was considered to odd to hang out with, no one really liked me.  So I never did anything like this… to be fair if I did have friends we wouldn’t be doing things like arcades.”

“Why’s that?”

“I went to a rich private school Lance, most kids went on yacht parties or visited their vacation homes to hang out.”  She looks down. “I mainly stayed in my room and studied. The weird girl with no friends.”

“Well maybe moving here was a sign.”

“Sign?”

“That you belong here.  You have friends here, people who like you.  You get to be yourself and try new things. Hell maybe you’ll find your soulmate.”  He says, Allura smiles.

“Maybe you’re right… maybe he’s in this city…”  She looks back outside.

* * *

The whole group stops in front of the apartments.  Hunk and Allura run inside to get Keith, looking like excited children.  Lance looks over anxiously, nervous as all hell. Pidge grabs his arm and gave him a reassuring smile.  He takes her hand and nods. The two got out and walked into the apartment building.

“Remember… act normal.”  She tells him.

“I know.”  The two walked in and saw Allura immediately hopping on the counter to avoid Cosmo, Shiro looking at her with a look of apathy.  He takes a sip of his beer and kept watching as his beloved dog was after the random girl in his house.

Hunk was on the couch watching whatever Shiro had on.  He looks over at the two who just came in and waves them over.  They walked closer to hear what Hunk had to say.

“Shiro says Keith’s in the shower.  He’ll be out in a minute.” He says.  Pidge walks over and knocks.

“Keith, hurry up!”

“Pidge?!”

“Yeah, we’re hanging out today!  Come on!”

“What the hell man…”  She heard him grumble.

“Not my fault you decided to take a shower during the middle of the day.”

“I just got done working out, give me a break.”  He growls and they all heard the water stop. He walks out with a towel around his waist and rubs his hair dry with another one.  Everyone looks at Keith with a raised brow, no shame at all.

Lance just gawks at him.  Full color and all. Keith was gorgeous, and Lance couldn’t help but stare.  How can someone look so perfect and flawless? Why is that perfect being Lance’s?  Lance doesn’t deserve someone as beautiful as Keith, he felt so unworthy. 

“Keith!  Tell your dog to leave me alone!”  Allura snaps. Keith jumps, he didn’t know his other friends were there.

“Damn… Allura scared me.  Cosmo, down. Leave her alone.”  He calls, Cosmo runs back to Keith happily.  

“Not fair to show your perfect bod like that  _ Cariño _ .”  Lance says, Keith faces Lance’s direction.

“You’re all here?”

“Yeah, everyone is.  We’re going to the arcade today.  U-Unless you don’t want to go.” Lance stutters, Pidge groans and buries her face in her hands.

“What would I do at an arcade?”  Keith asks.

“To hang out with your friends!”  Hunk shouts. “So hurry up!”

“Fine fine.”  Keith walks to his room and changed quickly.  He walks back out and wiggles Cosmo’s collar, the wolf runs up happily.  Keith puts it on and tries to grab his bag, Pidge ran up and takes it from him.

“No no no, I’ll pay for you.”

“But-”

“Shiro knows where you’ll be.  Also you’re an adult, you can do what you want.”  She says and rounds up her friends. “Alright, see ya later Shiro.”

“Have fun.  Win me a prize!”

“I’ll try.”  Keith jokes.

* * *

The car ride down to the mall was hectic, since they were in Lance’s small car, but they all miraculously fit.  By fit they had Keith and Cosmo in the back with Hunk. Pidge was on Allura’s lap in the passenger’s seat, Lance was driving because it’s his car.  The music was cheesy pop and almost all were singing along. Except for Keith, who hated it.

They made it to the mall and were trying to find a parking spot, but it was crowded.  They looked around for one, then shout when they thought they saw one, only for it to be taken by a bike or scooter.

“Over there!”  Allura points.

“Lance, go go go go!”

“I’m going Pidge I’m going!”  An asshole speeds up and takes it.

“AWWWW!”  In unison.

“ASSHOLE!”  Lance starts honking his horn, the men and one woman all walk out and laugh at them.  Lance rolls the back window down to let Cosmo poke his head out and bark at them, which sounded like a growl.  They ran so far, even the tubby guy became an olympian runner.

They finally found a spot and parked.  They walk into the mall and walked around.

“We seriously stand out, no thanks to Cosmo here.”  Allura said.

“Sorry I need a seeing eye dog.”  Keith sassed. They went on an escalator, awkwardly, and made it to the arcade.  Everyone had an easy time with all the lights and sounds, except for two. One who had just been exposed to color, and one who can’t see and is freaked out by all the sounds around him.

“Alright, so what should we do first?”  Pidge asks.

“Well how about we get our cards, then play like no tomorrow.”  Hunk says, they all got a card at the front desk… even Keith. He stood there awkwardly, holding the card that he will for sure not use after this.  He aimlessly walks around the place while his friends went off and did their own things.

Pidge was playing practically everything in sight and winning most of them, except rhythm games, Lance was kicking her ass with those.

“Dammit!  How are you keeping up?!”

“I’m a dancer Pidge, keeping a beat is kind of a requirement.”  He points out, she stuck her tongue out and lost again. Allura was trying a classic arcade game and kept losing.

“Awwww!”  She whines.  Hunk looks over from his shooter.

“You’ll get the hang of it.”  He tells her, she groans and put her card in for another round.  “Yo Lance, wanna be player two?”

“Aw heck yeah!”  He ran over to Hunk and played.  Pidge looks around to find Keith, she found him playing a racing game.  He didn’t want to feel awkward so he put his card in one game and attempted to play it.  However you could tell he had no idea what he was doing do to the fact he was off road and losing.

She walks over and watches for a good few minutes, he had gotten a small crowd around him without knowing.  Cosmo waits patiently for his owner to stop trying. Pidge glares at a few kids snickering to one another and grabs her friends arm.

“Keith, stop it.”  She says, Keith stops and faces her.

“I look like a total idiot… don’t I.”

“Well seeing as how you’ve been on the grass for the entire match and are currently losing… yes.”  She says, he looks down.

“I just… I didn’t want to stand out.  I felt so awkward standing around.”

“Well now you’ve drawn more attention to yourself.”  She says as she hands him his cane. “Come on, let’s play something else.”

“O-Okay.”  Keith walks away, embarrassed.  Allura gave up on her retro game and joined Lance in a dance game, she didn’t do any better.

“Why am I no good at these?”

“Because you’ve never played a game in your life?”

“Shut up Lance!”  She snaps. “You and your stupid dancer body!”

“I have a great body thank you very much.”

“Says who?”

“Uh a lot of people.”  Lance sassed.

“Bullshit.”  She lost. “I hate this game.”  She pouts. Lance chuckles and hops down.

“My beautiful body wins again.”

“Noodle boy.”  She hisses, Lance gasps.  He gave her an offended look.

“I can prove my body is loved by many!”

“Whatever.”  She rolls her eyes.  Lance grabs her arm and walks over to Pidge, who was watching Keith play a claw game.  He had no idea what he was getting. Lance points at Pidge, the girl raises an eyebrow at him.  No words were spoken for a brief period of time.

“Pidgey, am I attractive?”

“Is this a test?”

“Dammit, just answer!”  Lance pouts. Pidge shrugs, she didn’t care.  Lance was attractive, that was obvious, but Pidge hates answering dumb questions.

“Does it matter?”

“You are no help!”  He pouts. “Keith?”

“What?”  Keith pushes a button and sends the crane down, catching onto a plush unicorn.

“Am I attractive?”

“Hm mm.”  He shrugs.  The unicorn drops.

“He can’t see!”

“So?”  Lance grabs Keith and forces him close.  Pidge takes over and tries to get the same unicorn.  “His opinion is still valid!”

“This is on looks Lance.”

“He doesn’t have to see to know if someone is attractive!”

“Well how is he supposed to know?”  Allura asks, curious on how Lance was going to prove it.  He takes Keith’s hands and forces them on his body.

“He can just feel, he has his other senses.”  Lance said. Allura wanted to comment on how inappropriate that sounded, but Keith didn’t complain.  He took it like what he was doing was normal. To Keith, touch was everything, how he navigates the world.

He felt Lance’s torso, then arms.

“You are really skinny.”

“Shut up.”  Lance says quickly, not at all mad.  Keith goes back to his torso, feeling every rib that makes bumps on his skin.  Lance lets out a breathy laugh, it kind of tickled. Keith’s hands went to his waist, he quirked a brow.

“This is not how most men are shaped.”

“Yeah they are, very gorgeous men.”  Lance comments, Keith actually chuckled at that.  He lets go of Lance and back to the claw machine to try again, Pidge did not get the unicorn.  “So?” Lance waits for an answer, Keith was silent as he starts the claw machine up.

Allura smirks, thinking she had won.  Lance’s body was not that attractive. Lance actually felt his self esteem go down.  He tries to play it off, and it fools everyone. But deep down it hurts.

“I know I can’t vouch for anything.”  Keith said. “So sorry Lance, my opinion doesn’t matter.”

“Ouch.”  Pidge spoke up.  “Also you almost got that unicorn.”

“Sweet.”  Keith says.  Lance and Allura leave the two to what they were doing and played another game.

In the end no one had enough credits to buy a prize, Keith had a dumb green unicorn.  They all walked around the mall just to explore. They explored the part of the mall rarely anyone visits and sees all the old stores and food joints with little business.

“Man this is sad.”  Pidge said. “Wonder why they don’t get business.”

“They’re in a really bad spot that no one sees?”  Allura asks, but really she’s pointing out why they don’t get business.  Lance looks into one store and sees all the colorful junk they had. It hurt his eyes.

“Aw…  _ mi ojos _ …”

“You okay buddy?”  Hunk asks.

“Yeah, just… just…”  Lance didn’t want his friend to know.  Pidge knowing was awkward enough, but she was doing this more for Keith than Lance.  He walks next to his friend and sees Keith messing with the unicorn.

“What does this thing even look like?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t know.”  Pidge said. “Your brain doesn’t know shapes.”

“Shit…”  They all found a place to relax and watch people go by living their own lives.  Lance watched Keith play with the toy absently, he seemed so curious about it. He buries his face in it and relaxed.

“What are you doing?”  Lance asks with a chuckle.  “You trying to hide that beautiful face of yours?”

“It’s fluffy.”  Keith responds. He faces Lance, worry written all over his face.  “You’re acting like yourself again. What happened earlier?”

“Hm?”  Lance hums.  “Nothing, why do you ask?”

“You’re lying to me.”  Keith looks back down. Lance’s face drops, he got closer and rests his head on Keith’s shoulder.

“I just don’t want you to worry about it.”  Lance said.

“Makes me feel like it’s my fault.”

“It isn’t.”  Lance said. “Trust me.”

“At this point it’s kind of hard to.”  Keith admits. Lance didn’t say anything, he snuggles into Keith’s shoulder and tries to forget the world around him.  After a while of doing nothing in the mall it was time to call it a day.

They went around and tried to find the car, and that was a trip all on it’s own.

“Where did I park again?”

“Are you seriously telling me you forgot where you parked?”  Allura asks.

“Oh hush it Princess.”  Lance says with sass. They all looked around for a good twenty minutes till they spotted it.  They screamed in joy and ran in, cramming into the car and driving off.

* * *

Matt and Shiro were walking out of the apartment building when they came back.  The two men stopped and saw Keith and Pidge hop out, Cosmo came out another door and back to Keith.  The two saw the other three wave and drove off.

“It was like a clown car…”  Matt said, Shiro nods agreeing with him.  Keith hands Shiro the stuffed unicorn.

“Aw heck yeah!”  He took it happily, they walked up the stairs, Pidge next to Keith.  Who looked so upset.

“What’s up?”  She asks. Keith doesn’t respond, he walks into his apartment and into his room, she follows him.  He sat on his bed and messed with Black’s paws, Pidge took Cosmo’s leash off and sat next to him. He knew she wasn’t leaving till he said what was on his mind.

“Pidge…”  He starts.  “Does Lance not like hanging out with me?”  A long silence follows.

“Dude don’t ask dumb questions.”

“What?!”  Offended.

“Keith, you are literally Lance’s favorite person.  He loves hanging out with you, he’s practically obsessed.”

“I feel like he’s trying to avoid me.”

“He’s going through something tough right now.”

“Oh so he told you?”  Keith almost snapped, he didn’t want to show how angry he was.

“Oh knock it off Keith, he told me cause I’m nosy and wouldn’t leave him alone.”  She snaps. “He hasn’t told anyone else, not even Hunk or Allura.” She tells him.  He faces his wall and continues to mess with Black’s paw, he wanted to know what was wrong.  He wants to be there for his friend, but he won’t even trust Keith. Makes sense, who would trust the dumb blind guy.

“Keith… he wants to tell you.  But he’s afraid of how you’ll react.”

“Of how I’ll react?!  What kind of bullshit reasoning is that?!”  He snaps. “I get it, he doesn’t want me around him!  Don’t make up some dumb lie to spare my feelings! I’ve felt worse!”

“Lie?!  For the love of God Keith!”  She stood up. “You need to calm down!  Lance is waiting for the right moment to tell everyone!”

“Everyone besides me!”

“He’ll tell you when he’s ready!”

“This is about me, isn’t it?!”  He snaps. She stops, not knowing how to answer.  If she says yes, then Keith will demand to know. If she says no, then it’s a lie and when Keith figures out, he’ll be even more upset.  “I want to know what I did wrong!”

“This isn-”

“Don’t you fucking lie to me Pidge!”  He shuts her up. “I know when you lie, you freeze before you say anything!  And I know it’s about me! He’s acting normally around you three but not to me!  He’s acting uncomfortable, like he doesn’t want me close!”

“You know what?  Fine, it is about you!”  She was about to cry, she hates fighting Keith.  It’s her best friend, someone she can always turn to when she needs to talk.  Now she can’t talk to him, she can’t look him in the eyes and tell him the truth.  Cause this is about Lance, not her.

She got up and storms off.

“Figure it out yourself!  Blind asshole!”  She screams and ran out of the apartment, Matt and Shiro saw her run out.  Matt got upset and slams Keith’s door open.

“What did you do to her?!”

“Just leave me alone Matt!”  Keith threw something at him, it almost hit him.  He backs off and pushed Shiro out of his way.

“Fix your brother!”  He snaps and went after his baby sister.  Matt is usually a chill guy, but mess with his family and you’ll regret ever crossing him.  Shiro looks at his friend, then back at Keith. He was buried in his knees, trying to hide from everyone.  Shiro sighs and leaves his brother alone.

* * *

The next week was worse for Keith, Pidge won’t talk to him at all.  Hunk and Allura tried to message him, but he won’t respond. After the fourth day they gave up.  He was pushing himself too hard at the gym, he was going to hurt himself.

“Alright enough!”  Kolivan snaps, Keith stops and glares in his direction.

“Why?  I can keep going!”

“Not without hurting yourself!”  Kolivan got Keith away from the bench.  “I can easily see you’re upset, but you need to knock it off!”

“I’m fine!”

“Yelling at me is proving your point.”  Kolivan says sarcastically. “Go home, you’re not going to work out.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, go.”  He says. Keith stormed out, he grabs Cosmo and leaves.  He made it back to the apartment and tries to escape into his room, but Shiro was there to stop him, he had to leave work early.

“No no no.”

“Shiro, let me go.”

“No Keith.  We need to talk.”

“No!”

“Dammit.”  He picks Keith up, the younger man started freaking out and punching Shiro in the head and back, demanding to be put down.  He throws Keith down on the couch and points, though Keith doesn’t see it, he feels it.

“You listen to me!”  He snaps. “Your actions are affecting everyone!”

“It’s not your problem!”

“Your fight with Pidge caused Matt and I to have a fight!  I had to leave work early because we got into another fight about you!”  Shiro snaps. “I don’t know what is going on with you, but you need to calm down and try to make up with Pidge.”

“No-”

“Don’t start.”  Shiro sighs. “I know you’re upset that she’s not talking, but you seriously got to her this time.  Whatever happened you need to accept responsibility and apologize.” Keith stays quiet. “I’m gonna leave it up to you.”  He leaves his brother alone to think about what to do.

* * *

“You fought with Keith?!”  Lance asks. They were in the shop that Silver works at, Matt was hanging out with them.  Nyma and Rolo were with them as well, not at all doing their jobs at all. Pidge has been sticking to her brother like glue.

“Yeah.”  She says.

“This is all my fault, I’m so sorry Pidgey.”

“I want to know why you wouldn’t tell him in the first place.”  Matt snaps. “You know he won’t be able to tell-”

“Matt, I think he gets it.”  Nyma said.

“Thank you, living angel.”  Lance says.

“But Matt has a point.”  Rolo says. “You should’ve told him right then and there.”

“I know… I panicked.”  Lance admits.

“I don’t care.”  Matt said. “You can say sorry and make up excuses all you want, or you can go tell him.  I’ll only accept your apology if you tell him what’s going on.”

“What?!”  Lance freaks out.  “But-”

“I know your issue, he doesn’t want his soulmate.  But he’s who your bound to, he has every right to know.”  Matt says. “Go tell him, and you need to do it alone.” Everyone looks at him and nods, they were right.

Lance sighs and walks out.  He grabs his phone and texts Keith, telling him to meet at the park they were at when the drones happened.  Saying that he has something important to say. Hopefully he’ll be there.

* * *

The park was so dark, only faint street lights lit the area.  He heard the clicking of claws, he looks over and sees Cosmo running up to him, happy to see him.  Keith was hiding his face in his hood like usual.

“Hello  _ El Lobo. _ ”  Lance says and pats Cosmo’s face.  He looks at Keith and smiles. “Thanks for coming, I was worried you wouldn’t show up.”

“Just tell me what’s going on.”  Keith said. Lance stayed quiet and looks down.  “I know it’s about me, I want to know what I did wrong Lance.”

“You did nothing… it’s me okay?”

“So what is it?”  Keith asks. “Are you sick of me?  Do you not want to hang out with me anymore?”  He kept asking, it was hurting Lance. The fact that Keith thought this was the reason Lance was uncomfortable.  “Lance, I’m an adult… I can take it. I promise I’ll understand.”

“You will?”

“Yes.”

“Promise you won’t get mad at me?”

“Lance, just tell me.”  Keith says. Lance took a deep breath, here he goes, no going back after this.

“I-I found my soulmate an-”

“You did?”  Keith asks, then chuckles.  “That’s what this is all about?”  Lance went silent. “Lance, I may not like the idea of soulmates, but that doesn’t mean I’ll hate you for finding yours.  I’m happy for you.” He says with a smile. “So who is it? Do I know them?”

“You.”

“Heh…”  Silence.  “Uh what?”

“You.”

“You mean to say ‘you do’ or ‘you don’t’ … right?”  Keith sounded nervous. Lance shook his head, but Keith could not see it and was waiting for his answer.

“N-No…”  Lance squeaks out.  “You… you’re my soulmate.”  A long, uncomfortable silence fell between them.  Keith’s face went from confused to just disappointed.

“Heh, wow… to think that this whole time I was finally away from that life.”

“What?”  Lance was now the confused one.  ‘That life’... what was Keith talking about?

“I’m out of here.”

“What?”  Lance ran up to him.  “Keith, I’m sorry I didn’t-”

“Save it.”  He snaps, now he looked threatening.  “I’m not going to fall for it again! You hear me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I refuse to fall for another jerks lies!”  He says. “Go play with someone else’s heart!”  He tugs on Cosmo’s leash, commanding him to move.  “To think I actually found real friends… guess everyone’s the same in the end.”  He walks off.

Lance stood there, heartbroken and confused.  He knew Keith would take it badly, but not that badly.  It made him wonder what had happened for him to say again… did someone hurt him before?  That’s why he doesn’t want a soulmate? 

Lance looks at the ground, seeing tears fall from his face… oh yeah, he was crying.  When did that start? And when did he start running? He didn’t know what to do anymore.  He doesn’t like this. He doesn’t want some amazing love story like the movies anymore, he just wants what everyone else has.  His soulmate to at least love him back.

But everyone’s soulmate story was different.  And their love was not going to be as simple as Lance hopes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all wanted this to go well. HA! Have you met me? I'm Jadyn, the girl who plays with hearts!


	14. Jade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEARS FROM THE MIDWEST!!! OH MY GOD IT'S 12:01 where I'm at! HAPPY 2019 EVERYONE!!! LET'S MAKE IT A GOOD YEAR!

Lance ran back into the house, again his family was confused, and sick of him running in.  He runs into his room and tried to run to his bed, but Marco caught him before he could make it.  He fought against Marco, and his brother was freaking out since Lance is stronger than him. Marco was pushing back with all his might but it wasn’t working.

“LUIS!  LUIS!” He panics and calls for his brother, Luis walks in and sighs.  He walks over and pulls his younger brother off. He screams in anger, flailing, demanding to be let go.  Veronica and Rachel poke their heads in. They didn’t want to get involved.

Luis and Lance are the strongest siblings out of the five.  Luis was significantly stronger than Lance and that was saying something.  The other two walked in and watched him fight out of his brothers grasp. Finally the noodle boy got out of his big brother’s grasp, he lands with a thud and glares at him.

“Jerk!”

“What is wrong Lance?”  Luis asked. “You ran in all upset again.”

“My soulmate!  That’s what’s up!”  He shouts. “Now leave me alone!”

“What happened with your soulmate?”  Veronica asks.

“He doesn’t accept me!”  Lance snaps. “I just want to be alone!”  He says and went to hide in the closet in his room.  They look at one another then back at him. He wasn’t coming out till he was alone.

They all left and thus Lance came out and rests on his bed.  He was done, he didn’t want to talk about it. Not their problem, it’s his, it’s his issue.  He’ll deal with it alone.

* * *

Keith storms into his apartment and into his room.  He dropped Cosmo’s leash and ignored the awkward stares from Shiro.  The older male watches and gave him a look.

“Uh… Keith?”

“Don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Oh boy.”  He followed Keith.  “What happened?”

“Not talking about it.”  He took his hoodie off and flops on his bed.  Shiro saw Cosmo still had his leash on, he sighs and took it off for the wolf.  Cosmo hops on Keith’s bed and waits for his owner to stop being upset. Shiro waits.

“Keith… didn’t you talk to Lance?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t go well?”

“What do you think?”  Keith hisses. Shiro raised an eyebrow and waits for Keith to elaborate, he wasn’t.  That’s a first.

“What did Lance say?”  Nothing. “Keith… what did he say?”  He groans, he was giving in. Shiro got closer, making his presence known.  Keith gave in.

“He lied to me.”  He says. “I thought he was a friend… I guess not.”

“What?”  Shiro was confused.  “One: I’m sure he’s your friend still.  Two: what did he say?”

“He said I was his soulmate!”  Keith snaps. Silence, absolute silence.  Shiro pinches his brow and groans, this was so stupid.

“Keith… why would Lance lie about that?”

“He just is!  No one is my soulmate, you know this!”

“I know… I know.”  Shiro has heard this many times.  “But what would he gain lying to you?”

“What did James gain?”

“Fair point.”  Shiro says. “But Lance doesn’t seem like the type of person to lie about being your soulmate.”  He tells Keith, the young man huffs and just lays down. He doesn’t want to hear it. He doesn’t want to hear how Lance may be telling the truth, cause if it is the truth then the universe hates Lance just as much.

Keith hates to admit it to himself but he does care about Lance.  He’s funny, kind, caring, and the most bright and positive thing to ever live.  He never treated Keith any differently, made him feel special. But Lance deserves someone just as amazing, he deserves someone who can take care of themselves, someone who can also take care of him, someone who can actually see.  Keith is the worst choice for Lance, for anyone for that matter. But Keith also knows better. He knows no one is his soulmate, and Lance is just lying for some dumb reason.

“Keith, you can’t keep living in the past.  You knew that someday your soulmate was gonna see.  You can’t avoid destiny.”

“It’s not real, I know he’s lying.”

“Dammit Keith.”  Shiro growls. “Seriously, nine years and you’re still at it?  I’m sick of it!” He got up. “You think I find this fair? I’m twenty five and haven’t found my soulmate yet, and look at how you’re treating yours!”

“Shut up!  You don’t know what I’ve been through!  I don’t trust anyone with my heart, you know this!”

“Yeah?  Well I know Lance, and I know that he would never hurt you!”  Shiro groans. “You lucky bastard! You have an attractive guy as your soulmate, meanwhile I’m stuck being alone in this damn grey world cause my fucking pool is so low!”  He snaps. “Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to find my soulmate?” Keith doesn’t face him, he could hear Shiro starting to tear up. He was losing it.

“First Matt and now you.  This is so fucking unfair, I’m gonna be alone for the rest of my life.”

“No you won’t-”

“Save it.”  Shiro snaps.  “I’m done with you, and I’m done with this conversation.  Just leave me alone and be a selfish brat!” He slams Keith’s door shut and leaves him alone.  Keith buries his face in his pillow and screams. Just screams his little heart out.

He just lost a good friend cause they now want him to believe they’re meant to be, lost his best friend cause they’re arguing, now his brother hates him.  Everyone hates him, that’s just it. Soon enough his own dog will hate him. He waits for what felt like hours until he made up his mind.

He grabs his jacket, bag, and Cosmo.  They leave without a word, maybe this will solve everything if he just disappeared.

Not like he did much for them anyways.  If anything he was more of a burden, someone who always had to be taken care of.  He can just leave this stupid life behind, like he tried to do years ago. Maybe now it’ll all be better for him, he can forget everything, and everyone can forget about him.  Shouldn’t be too hard.

* * *

Shiro felt bad for snapping, he shouldn’t push his own problems onto Keith.  He should be happy that Keith does have a soulmate, that someone was out there for him, and he should’ve known it was Lance.  The two were so inseparable. Everyone talks about how Lance was around Keith, but it was equal on both sides.

Keith has fallen so hard and now he has to face the facts, he is Lance’s true love.  The universe put them together for a reason, they were meant to be. And Shiro will make sure Keith understands that, that in this world someone loves him and is meant to be with him.

He walks up and goes into Keith’s room.

“Keith?  Buddy?” He pokes his head in and sees it’s empty, his heart sank.  He looks all around the apartment, but no one was in there, he was alone.  “No no, no no no no no.” He ran into his room and grabs his phone, calling the first person he could go to.

“Hello?”  A tired Matt on the other side.  “Shiro it’s like one in the morning.”

“Keith left!”

“Wha-?”  Matt sounded delirious.  “But it’s so early… why did he leave?”

“We got into a fight.”

“Sounds familiar.”

“Matt I’m sorry, you know you’re my best friend.  But Keith is gone and I need your help!” Shiro says.  “You can hate me afterwards, but right now I need someone to help me look.”

“Shiro dude, chill.”  Matt says. “One, I don’t hate you.  I never did. I get pretty nasty when people attack my girls.  Two, I don’t hate Keith. I love that dude as much as I love you man.”

“Gay.”

“Says the gay one.”  Matt teases. “Silver and I will help, I’ll even call Pidge and tell her.”

“You don’t have t-”

“She has a right to know.  That’s her best friend.” Matt says in a low tone.  “I’ll be out looking now, you go out too.”

“Yeah, thanks Matt.”

“No problem.  Now lets find him before he gets hurt.”

* * *

Pidge has locked herself in her room since the fight, she goes out to talk to her other friends and try to stay social, but without Keith it seems pointless.  She wants everything to be alright, but Keith’s dark past makes it hard for her to even help him. She doesn’t know how Keith took the news, something tells her it didn’t go well.

She hides under her blankets and tries to go to sleep, but her mind is full of emotions, and she hates it.

Her phone goes off, she grabs it and answers.

“Hello?”

“Hey Pidge.”

“Matt?  What are you doing up?  Are you driving?”

“No time to talk.  Now don’t freak out, but Keith ran away.”

“Huh?!”  Pidge shot up.  Matt sighs.

“He and Shiro got into a fight and Shiro found him gone.  Silver and I are out looking for him but no such luck. I don’t want to ask this of you since it’s dark, but if you want to-”

“Don’t push this “I’m a girl, so I can’t go out at night” crap.”  She snaps as she ran downstairs with a jacket and her big boots that don’t go well with her green nightgown.  “My best friend is out there and like hell I’m gonna just sit around and wait!” She hung up and ran out. She sends the rest of her friends an emergency text, telling them what happened.  Then she puts it in her pocket and ran around the city.

‘Keith Kogane, you fucking idiot.  You better be okay, or else I’ll never forgive myself.’

* * *

Hunk groans as he woke up to check what dinged at him.  He reads it over about three times, then fell back asleep.  He shot up and reads over it again.

“Oh no…”  He ran out of the house.  “Don’t worry Pidge, I’ll help!”  He starts his car and bolts into the night.

* * *

Allura’s eyes flutter open.  She picks up her pet mouse that was sleeping on her phone.  Still holding the mouse in one hand and checking her phone in the other, she read the text.  Her heart stopped.

“Oh my… Platt go back in your cage.”  She puts the mouse in the world’s most expensive looking cage with three other mice living in it.  She puts on a fancy robe over her silk nightgown and runs downstairs. Putting on her slippers and running out the door.

She texts Coran where she’ll be.  About ten minutes later Coran ran out and hopped in his car to look for both Keith and Allura.

* * *

Marco throws his pillow at Lance, telling him to turn his stupid phone off.  Lance throws the pillow back at his brother and picks his phone up. He reads the message and gasps.  This cannot be happening. He slid his sneakers on and ran out of the house. No coat or anything. He didn’t care that he was wearing a t-shirt and boxers, didn’t care that the cold air bit at his skin, didn’t care that his shoes were sliding against his bare heels.  Keith was trying to run away.

Lance doesn’t care if Keith accepts him or not, they’re still friends and Lance was going to try and find him.

He ran around the city, looking for any sign of him.  A car pulls around, Lance saw some scary looking man looking around.  Lance didn’t know who he was, but he looked right at the smaller boy. He gave Lance a knowing nod and continued down, Lance had no clue who he was.

He kept looking around, hoping to spot him or something.  Another car goes by in the distance, shouting Keith’s name.  Sounded a lot like the blond girl from the store he’d met earlier.  He shook his head, not important. He ran around the city, hoping someone will find Keith before the worst possible thing happens.

* * *

Shiro calls for Keith, not knowing what he’d say if he found him.  He’d slap him for sure, dumb idea trying to run away, but he’d also hug him.  Hell at this point he’d kiss him and cry, he was so scared for him. He’s not worried about Keith cause he’s blind, he’s worried about him cause they’re family.  Keith is his little brother, someone he has taken care of since they were both kids. Keith taught Shiro how to be an adult, how to be responsible. If it wasn’t for that boy then Shiro would still be a reckless brat with nothing redeeming about himself.

His parents were right about him.  He was never going to be good if he kept it up, and Keith saved him from that life.  That boy who had it hard, who didn’t trust anyone, had put his entire life in Shiro’s hands.  Put his trust and faith in him, he had to become a caretaker, had to become an adult, all at the age of sixteen.  And that was something Shiro was grateful for, something he thanks Keith for.

Now he feels like he’s failed him, failed the most important person in his life.  Right now, Keith was everything. Keith was Shiro’s world, if something bad happened to him, he’d never forgive himself.

A car pulls up, the window rolls down.  Kolivan looks at Shiro.

“No sign yet.”  He says, then notices Shiro’s face.  “Stop your crying. You’re supposed to be strong.”

“I-I’m sorry.  I’m scared for him.”

“I’m scared as well, but we’re all trying to find him.  Right now we have multiple people out here looking for him.”

“KEITH?!  WHERE ARE YOU?!”  Nyma calls, driving by both Shiro and Kolivan.  The older man looks at Shiro with a smile.

“We’ll find him, and kick him in the ass for making us worry.”  That got Shiro to chuckle.

“Thank you so much Kolivan.”

“Keith is like a son to me.  I’d do anything for him.” He drove off, looking for the stupid child who ran away.

* * *

Keith sat in the park and rests his eyes.  He felt Cosmo whimpering, Keith gave his dog a puzzled look.

“What’s wrong?”  He asks, Cosmo tugs again, still whimpering.  He was tugging his leash in the direction of home.  Keith sighs. “No, we aren’t going home.” Cosmo kept tugging, starting to cry.

“No, Shiro doesn’t want me to go back home.”  He says. “Come on, let’s keep moving.” He tried to walk, but Cosmo was tugging the other way, telling his owner that it was time to go home.  “Cosmo, knock it off! I’m serious!” Still struggling. “Cosmo I gave you an order, you’re supposed to listen!” He tugs, Cosmo whimpers and tugs back.  Keith snaps, he threw Cosmo’s leash down.

“Fine, you go home!”  He snaps, Cosmo didn’t leave.  “Didn’t you hear me? Get out of here!  Go away! I don’t want you anymore!” He snaps, Cosmo backs away, head down.  Whimpering at his owner. He didn’t like being yelled at. Keith slams his cane down, causing it to make a terrible cracking sound, scaring Cosmo away.  “I SAID GET OUT OF HERE!”

Cosmo ran far from his owner.  Keith felt hot tears escape his eyes, he rubs them dry and continues to walk on his own, not knowing where he was and where he was going.

* * *

“Keith?  Keith? Hello?”  Allura calls, so far nothing.  She looked rather silly on the busy side of town, awkward stares from night prowlers, hookers, and drunks who stayed up that ungodly hour.  She ignores them and kept calling for her friend, hoping he’d hear her.

Then screams came from afar, she squints and sees a giant beast running through the crowd, people screaming wolf.  Wolf?

“Cosmo?”  She asks, Cosmo sees her and bolts at her in joy, tail wagging frantically.  A person! A person he knows! “Cosmo, wait!” She calls before the wolf pounces on her.  She groans and stood up. Petting the wolf’s face awkwardly, confused that he was alone.

Forget her fears of this dog, she was more afraid for Keith.

“Cosmo, where’s Keith?”  She asks, Cosmo’s face droops, giving her sad eyes.  “No… don’t tell me he let you go.” She felt bad for the poor dog, he was just doing his job and now Keith was acting malicious.  Cosmo thinks his owner hates him.

Allura musters the courage to grab Cosmo’s leash and walk him down the sidewalk, hopefully to find Keith.

* * *

Pidge held her jacket closed and looks around, no Keith in sight.  She hates this, hates how cold she is and how tired she is, and how afraid she was at the moment.  It’s dark and creepy, she wants to find Keith now so she can yell at him and then go home. Her phone goes off, she answers.

“Yo.”

“Any luck?”  It was Lance, she shook her head.

“No.  Nothing.”

“Dammit… this is all my fault.”

“No, you did the right thing.”  Pidge said.

“I should’ve never told him.”

“Lance.”  She tried to stay calm with him.  “We all messed up this time.” She started to cry, he could hear it.  “But right now, we have to find him, and make it right. No pushing the blame on ourselves, no time to feel bad.  Right now our mission is to find Keith and make sure he’s okay. Okay?” She asks, slight hiccup in her voice.

“Okay… he’ll be fine Pidgey.”  Lance says in such a calm voice it sounds nothing like him.  “We’ll find him, I’m sure of it.”

“I know.”  She nods, the two hung up and she continues down the empty sidewalk.

* * *

Lance doesn’t want to blame himself for it, but it is kind of his fault.  He told Keith the truth and now everyone was upset and trying to find Keith.  Honestly how could Lance not blame himself?

A car pulls up, it was Hunk.  Who else owns a worn down truck?

“Lance?  Buddy it is freezing outside.”

“I panicked!”

“Obviously.  Come on, hop in.”

“You sure?  Maybe we should stay separate just to cover more ground.”

“Get in before your legs freeze off.”  Hunk said, raising his voice.

“Yes sir.”  Lance squeaks and hops in, the continue to look for Keith.  Lance pulls his phone out and tried to call him. He wouldn’t pick up, normally people don’t leave voicemails anymore.  They either spam call them, text them, or assume they won’t answer. But he knows Keith won’t answer to anything and he needs to hear someone, at some point he’ll hear it.

“Keith?  Keith, baby come home.  We’re all worried about you.”  He says. “Come on, Pidge is crying cause she can’t find you.  I’m sure Shiro is worried sick as well. Just… just come home. I’m sorry…”  He takes a deep breath. “I’m so sorry… you can say I lied okay? If it means you’ll come back then I’ll say I lied.  Okay? Just come home Sweetie.” He ends it and looks outside. Hunk gave him a confused look.

“What did you lie about?”

“Nothing.”

“But you said-”

“Just drive Hunk.”  Lance says and continues to look for Keith.  He doesn’t want to talk about it, he just wants to find Keith and get this stupid search over with.  He looks at the time, two o’ three… his mom was going to kick his ass for running out.

* * *

Coran hums a little tune out of pure anxiety.  He drove near the park and looks around there, nothing unusual, besides the one ominous light.  He kept going, till he sees a faint outline of someone walking, no dog though. Not Keith then. He kept driving, then stops when he sees the cane going back and forth… Coran slams on his brakes and got out.

“Keith!”  He shouts, the figure jumps.  Got him. “What are you doing?  You’re almost out of city lines!”

“Go away!”  He calls and walked the other way.  Coran walks up and grabs Keith, the teen fought against him.  Coran held Keith in place, he still struggled.

“Keith, what the hell were you thinking?  Running away like this! What has gotten into you?”

“None of your business!”  He tries to pull away.

“What are you doing?  And where’s Cosmo?”

“He didn’t want to stay with me so I told him to leave!  Cause heaven forbid anyone like me in this damn world!” He started to cry.  “I fucking hate my life! I hate everything about it!” He started to fall to his knees, Coran goes with him.  “I want to change, I want to change so people will like me!”

“What are you talking about?  Lots of people like you.”

“No, no they don’t!  All because I can’t escape my own past!  I can’t trust anyone anymore, and I end up pushing people away!  I got rid of my dog, my brother hates me, I got into a fight with my best friend!  All because I’m a stupid kid who can’t face his own demons!” He cries into his hands, sinking to his knees.  “I’m too much of a coward to even try!”

As he cried Coran stayed with him, rubbing his back to sooth the teen.  He was so much like Allura, it was kind of funny.

“A sign of knowing you have a problem and admitting to it is the way to recovery Keith.  You acknowledge that you have trust issues, now you can work to change that.”

“B-But it’s so hard.  And it hasn’t gotten any better in nine years.”

“I have only met you a short while ago, but I’m sure that’s not true.  Think about it. You must’ve gained some trust, and some confidence in yourself.”

Keith took some time to think.  Before everyone started “hating” him he remembers what it was like.  From his friends, to his family, to his own self. Realizing that, in a way, he has gotten better.  He can walk with more confidence, open up to people a little more. He isn’t better, by any means, but a little progress is still progress.

He finally calmed down and stood up, Coran leads him to the car, promising to take him home.  Road to recovery will start, by apologizing to Shiro.

* * *

Allura hangs up and immediately texts all her friends what Coran had just told her.  It was practically a group chat Shiro had created with the number of everyone who was involved.  She didn’t even know half of these people, but they were all in on finding Keith, so they were all good in her book.

She runs back to the apartments, Cosmo right at her side.  She smiles at the wolf and cheers happily into the night.

* * *

Shiro notices Allura running up with Cosmo, the wolf runs to him and rubs against his leg.  He pats the dog and hugs Allura, thanking her for telling everyone. She nods then notices how many were actually looking.  A couple standing next to Matt and Silver. Pidge was leaning against her sister, Silver doing her best to soothe her. Telling her it was all over and everything was alright now.  A burly man who wasn’t wearing a shirt was standing next to Shiro, the fact that he wasn’t cold was frightening enough.

Then Coran’s car pulls up.  Keith slowly got out, Coran following.  Shiro runs up and grabs Keith, the poor guy had no idea how many people were outside, he didn’t even know Shiro was outside.

“Thank God you’re okay.”  He says then pulls away to look at Keith’s face.  “I was so worried about you, don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“I-I’m sorry.”  Keith said. “I just… I thought you hated me now.”  Shiro stares in disbelief.

“Keith, no one hates you.”  He pulls Keith back in. “And I shouldn’t have put my own issues onto you.  You didn’t deserve that.” He rocks Keith back and forth, trying to calm himself down more than Keith.

Pidge ran up and started hitting him.  Keith jumps and faces her.

“I hate you!  I hate you!” She cries, then latches onto his waist.  “You are such a stupid asshole!” She nuzzles into him.  “I want to stop fighting Keith, I love you too much…” She whimpers.  Keith hugs her back and nods.

“I-I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.”  She says. The four laugh, Keith jumps.

“Seriously?  You guys too?”

“We were worried.”  Rolo said.

“You are an ass!”  Nyma snaps. “And if you think for a minute that we weren’t gonna look for you then you can forget it!  Cause like hell were going to turn our backs on a friend.”

“Friend?”  He says softly, then he feels something soft nudge his hand.  He faces the source of the cold nose and cries. He lets go of Pidge and hugs Cosmo.  “Oh God, I am so sorry Cosmo! I didn’t mean it, I love you still!” He cries, Allura got down and pats his back.

“He most certainly forgives you.”  She says softly, Keith faces her.

“You too?”

“I’m with the blond one, I wasn’t going to turn my back on you.”  She says. “We’re friends after all.” He smiles.

“You have made Shiro worry and everyone else.  I’m doubling your routine for this.”

“Kolivan?!”

“Don’t act so surprised.”  He says. “I may not care about many people, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care at all… stupid child.”  He rubs Keith’s hair. “Speaking of which, here’s the Toto boys… I assume.” Keith raised a brow, Toto boys?

A car pulls up.  Lance and Hunk both hop out and run to Keith.  Lance was the first to him and latched himself onto Keith.

“Are you insane?!”  He snaps, Keith just faces him.  “You tried running away from all of us?!  Why?! What was the point?”

“I thought since everyone hated me then-”

“Who said anyone hated you?!  Cause like hell!” Lance snaps.  “If no one liked you then I’m sure eleven people wouldn’t be out looking for you right now!”

“Okay I get it!”

“Do you?”  Lance stood up with him.  “You are unbelievable Kogane!  Un-be-lei-va-ble!” He grabs Keith’s face and just stares at him.  “I know you don’t believe me, I don’t even know what you believe anymore… but I want you to know right now that I do love you.”  Lance said. “I’ve loved you way before I knew we were soulmates.”

“Hold up, what?!”  Hunk freaks, everyone who didn’t know was just shocked.  Lance ignores them and continues. Keith looks away. For someone who doesn’t see, his eyes still have a lot to say.

“I’m a fool who grew a crush on you, a fool who fell in love with you without looking into your eyes.  It doesn’t matter if you agree with me or not, and I’m gonna keep saying it till I die. I’m in love with you Keith Kogane.”

“No you are not.”  Keith growls. “You’re lying to me.”

“I don’t care what you say.  I know my feelings, and I know they’re true.”  Lance sighs and hugs him. Shiro awes at that, everyone kind of did.

“Lance, that was actually sweet.”  Shiro says, then Lance’s face looked pained.  “Uh… you okay?”

“He’s biting my shoulder…”  Moment ruined. Shiro freaks and runs to him.

“Keith, stop i- Oh God he broke skin.”  He grabs Keith’s face. “Unhinge your jaw!  Unhinge!” He got Keith to let go and he backed away from Lance, glaring at him.  Lance saw his bleeding shoulder and sighs.

“You still in love with him?”  Nyma asks. Lance rolls his eyes.

“Sadly.”  He looks at Keith with a smile.  “I’m gonna make you fall in love with me Keith.  Even if it takes my entire life, I will prove to you that I’m your soulmate.”  He says. “And I’m gonna be the best soulmate ever, one worthy of you!” He ran off.  “Just you wait!”

Everyone smiles at that, this whole issue got way more interesting, and now they were active members in it.  They look at Keith, who grunts and looks away.

“Like I’ll ever fall for him.”


	15. Cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOOOO SORRY I HAVEN'T POSTED IN A MONTH!  
> I hope you all forgive the long delay, it's not like me to wait a month! Hopefully this chapter will be worth it. Enjoy and I will update MUCH sooner this time, I promise!

Everyone in school was talking about October plans, Allura over hears them while blankly staring at her computer screen.

“What are they talking about?”  She asks. Lance and Hunk look up from what they were playing and look over where she was looking.

“Oh, it’s October.  Probably talking about plans for Halloween.”  Hunk says and continues to play his game.

“What do people in this city do during October?”  She asks.

“I dunno.”  Lance shrugs.  “Whatever they want, until Halloween.  Which is, you know, a holiday everyone celebrates?”

“Halloween is for children though.”

“Doesn’t mean they can’t go see a movie or visit a haunted house.”  Lance tells her. “We can still do things, just not trick or treat.”

“What about those guys who dressed as old ladies and went from house to house giving the home owners candy?”  Hunk asks.

“Meh, everyone has their own fun.”  Lance says and continues with his game, Hunk shrugs and goes back to his as well.  Allura thinks about what she might want to do while scrolling through pictures of her own… they really need to get back to work.

* * *

“Enough.”  Kolivan snaps, Keith groans and got up from the bench.  He sat up and rubs his back in pain. Kolivan was not kidding about doubling Keith’s routine for trying to run away, he should know by now that Kolivan rarely kids around.

Keith stood up and goes for his hood.  He lazily puts it on and grabs his cane.

“I hope you feel better after that.”

“I feel something.”  Keith says, Kolivan waves him off.  Keith walks down and got Cosmo, who was with the kids as usual, and walks out.  He follows Cosmo down the road back to the apartments, meanwhile his phone kept going off.  He groans and takes it out.

Telling Siri to read his messages, surprisingly they’re from Allura.  He didn’t even need Siri to tell him that because Allura had a bad habit of using big words and correct grammar in all of her messages, which is kind of a good thing for Keith cause Siri can read it.

_ ‘Hello Keith, what are your plans for October?’  ‘Everyone is talking about Halloween and other activities such as that.  But I am curious about your schedule.’ ‘Please respond, I am starting to lose all interest in my free hour and the other two are still occupied.’ _

Keith clicks on his phone and responds.

“I don’t know.  All I have for plans is just to sit at home and eat candy on Halloween.  Besides that there’s nothing really important.” He says and sends the message.  Allura responds back immediately.

_ ‘Oh, maybe we can all do something as a group.  Something normal friends do on Halloween.’ _

“I’ll think about it, I’m sure everyone else will agree to it.”  He sends it and continues to walk, Allura texts back a message he didn’t read.

_ ‘I hope they agree.’ _

* * *

Sure enough everyone agrees to it, Keith being the only one still deciding whether or not he’d go.  As he lays on the couch, with Cosmo right on top of him, just ignoring his friends who were trying to reach him, asking him if he’s game or not.  Poor Allura feels like she messed up.

Shiro walks in and sees Keith being a lazy blob on the couch.  He ignores his brother and pets Cosmo’s head.

“So how was Kolivan?”

“A man of his word.”

“Ah.”  Shiro comes out with a bottle of water and sat on the chair.  “Anything else today?”

“Allura asked me if I had any plans October, I said not really.”  Keith says. “She wants us to go out as a group on Halloween though.”

“Okay, first off, liar.”  Shiro says, Keith huffs out an annoyed breath.  “Second of all, maybe going out on Halloween with people besides Matt and I would be good for you, and for Pidge.”

“I don’t want to!”

“I know why you don’t want to, you’re gonna have to confront him eventually.”

“No!”  Keith hugs Cosmo, not wanting to talk to Shiro anymore.

“Lance knows where to find you.  You can’t avoid him forever.”

“I can fucking try.”  Keith grumbles and continues to be a lump on the couch.  Shiro sighs and turns the TV on. He can’t control Keith, and can’t force him to do something he doesn’t want.  Keith is too stubborn and afraid, afraid that this whole thing is just another joke. Another way to hurt him.

Shiro decides that this was all planned out by destiny, another way the world works.  Everyone has to go through something in order to meet their soulmate, Keith’s is just a bit more complicated.

* * *

Pidge was playing with her DS while sitting in her quiet room, ah solitude.  Her phone goes off, she looks at it with annoyance. She picks it up and reads what was on it.  Allura texted her telling her she wants to do something for Halloween, since she’s never done something for Halloween before.

Pidge texts back that a Halloween thing sounds fun, something else to do for this month.  That made Allura reply fast.

‘Another thing, do you have plans?’

‘Uh yeah… I should tell you this.  Keith’s birthday is coming up.’

‘WHAT?!’

‘Yeah, Keith’s turning 20 on the 23.  We should celebrate it.’

‘No one tells me anything :(‘

‘To be fair I didn’t tell anyone.  But it’s Keith’s birthday, not mine.’

‘We are going to celebrate it!  I’m telling everyone!’

‘... you do that.’

The conversation ends.  Pidge goes back to her game and continues to play to her heart's content.  She was determined to beat the level she was stuck on, dammit she was gonna beat it.

Her phone goes off again, this time a call.  She groans in frustration, she puts her DS down with slight aggression and picks up.

“Hello?”

“Why did you tell everyone my birthday is coming up?!”  Keith snaps over the phone. There was silence for a minute.

“I only told Allura.”  Pidge says, she wedges her phone between her ear and shoulder and picks her DS back up.  “She told everyone else.”

“I’ve gotten so many texts from all three of them!”

“Can you blame them?  Your birthday is coming up and you’re their friend.”  Pidge says. “Fucking units dying on me.”

“Can you focus on your army another time?”  Keith asks in annoyance. “I didn’t want them to know about my birthday!”

“Why?”  Pidge asks.

“Cause I didn’t want them to know.  I never liked my birthday anyways!”

“I know.”  Pidge says and kept playing, ignoring her friend’s request.  “But maybe it’ll be different this time. You might like having a birthday.”

“No, I hated them as a kid, I’ve hated them since.”  Keith snaps.

“I know Keith, I fucking know.”  Pidge groans. “All I’m saying is that maybe, fucking maybe, it’ll be different!”

“I refuse to have another party where I get made fun of!”  He snaps before he hangs up. Pidge sat in confusion, then screams in anger.  What the hell does Keith mean by that?! Dammit, they’re best friends yet Pidge knows next to nothing about him or his issues.

She falls back on her bed and just lets herself be angry.  She has every right to be angry at this point.

* * *

Keith throws his phone on his bed and storms out of his room.  He wanted to cool off, so he’ll go for a walk. He grabs his cane and leash, Cosmo was excited that he was going out again.  Shiro looks over and had to ask.

“And where are you going?”

“Out.”

“Out where?”

“Out.”

“What happened?”

“None of your business.”

“Okay, no.”  Shiro walks over and shuts the door on Keith.

“What the hell?”  Keith growls. “I’m not a child, I can go out if I want to!”

“Tell me why you’re all “growly”.”  Shiro demands. Keith pouts.

“Nothing.”  Keith faces down.

“Keith, you tell me.  And face me when I’m talking to you.”  He commands. Keith faces Shiro. “Hood down.”  He puts his hood down, uneven grey eyes face Shiro, looking not to happy.  “Now tell me why the sudden attitude.”

“Pidge told Allura about my birthday, now everyone is excited about it.”  Keith says, Shiro was about to lose it. He knows Keith’s hard start on life, but this was becoming ridiculous.  He can’t blame Keith for getting uncomfortable and upset, this is the first time he’s had friends.

With friends comes a lot of things, one of them is wanting to celebrate your birthday.  Keith should give it a try, but he knows why he doesn’t want it, it’s kind of like not wanting to have a soulmate or being unsure of doing new things.  He’s not mad, not upset, he’s scared.

“I’m going.”  Keith says as he puts his hood up.

“Be home soon or I’m sending a search party again, and I don’t think Kolivan will be nice about it this time.”

“Whatever.”  Keith says, but he took that threat.  He doesn’t want a work out as harsh as today, he’d rather die.

* * *

Keith messes with his coffee and listens to music, he lays on the couch in the back.  Being a total asshole taking the entire thing, however no one sits with each other unless they know the other person.  He’s alone, so he doesn’t care if he’s being a total prick taking the entire couch, plus Cosmo got some of it.

He drank what was left and hands Cosmo his brand new toy.  He takes it happily and began to gnaw on it. The song changes and he continues to listen to the bops on his phone.  No one besides Shiro really knows Keith’s playlist. He looks like he’d listen to depressing emo songs, but in reality he likes songs with a beat, dance type songs.

He can’t dance to save his life since he has no clue what dancing looks like, but the songs sound nice.

He felt someone ruin his peaceful song listening with a tap to his shoulder.  If it’s someone mad that he took the couch then they can fuck off, it’s his couch now.  The tapping continued, Keith sighs and lifts his headphones up. He doesn’t face them, no point in it.

“Weird to see you out alone.  What’s up?” The unfamiliar voice says.  Keith was so confused, he showed with a slight head tilt.  “Don’t recognize me? Fair, I’m Rachel. Rachel Serrano.”

“Huh?”

“It’s been a while, I’m Lance’s sister.”  She confirms. “So what are you doing here all alone?”

“Just had to cool off.”  Keith says while petting Cosmo.  “I liked coming here to relax, I’ve only started coming back.  Mainly because Cosmo likes the cups.”

“Your service dog?”  She asks, Keith nods slowly.  “Sorry if me knowing bothers you.  Plax told me.” Keith made a disgusted face, he doesn’t want to talk about her again.  “You really hit something in her. I’ve never seen her so sad.”

“She can be sad.”

“She told me everything, well almost everything.”  Rachel said. “I know you don’t care and you won’t forgive her… honestly I can’t blame you.”  She says, which kind of surprised Keith. “I wouldn’t forgive my siblings if they treated me like that.”

Keith had to admit, Rachel was nice to talk to.  Probably because she wasn’t the “you need to forgive and forget” type.  She understood Keith’s anger and didn’t tell him to move on. He knows he has to, but it’s harder than it looks.  

“You’re not much of a talker, are you?”

“Uh…”  Keith paused.  “Sorry… it’s just that, well you’re the only one who seems to understand where I’m coming from.”  Keith says, he faces down. “I should forgive her, but it’ll take more than a few tears to get it.”

“I know, and trust me she knows too.  But you seem to live in the past.” She tells him.  “I know it’s none of my business, but maybe you shouldn’t let your past dictate your future.  You have new people in your life who want to make it better.” She says. Keith sat in silence, thinking of what he was just told.  It’s true, he shouldn’t let his past dictate him or his actions. No one said moving on was easy, but Keith was working on it.

Rachel smiles and got up.

“By the way, my brother ran out of practice today saying  _ “¡Necesito comprar algo de amor!”  _ and ran off.”  She says. “Do you know anything about that?”

“Uh… I don’t know… what does that mean?”  He asks shyly. He heard her chuckle.

“I’ll let you figure that out yourself.”  She says. Keith felt a little annoyed, he wants to know what that meant.  Why does she got to do him dirty like that. “Well I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, you too.”  Keith gave her a smile and waves her off.

“Have a happy birthday  _ Cutie~ _ ”  She says with a wink Keith couldn’t see.  Keith froze on the spot. Did Lance shout about his birthday, was that what he said?  Keith really wanted to know now.

* * *

Hunk and Lance wander around the mall to look for things to buy.  They heard that Keith’s birthday was that month and they want to get him something he liked.

“So it doesn’t matter how it looks…”  Hunk said. “So, it could be something that feels different, or smell, or I don’t know… sound?”

“The only thing that fits that description is a scratch and sniff card.”  Lance says. “Come on, I want to find something good for him.”

“I have no idea what he likes.”  Hunk says, which is true, Keith isn’t one to talk about personal interests.  Mainly because Keith isolates himself and isn’t materialistic. Both a positive and a negative.

Lance texts Shiro asking for birthday ideas, Shiro responds with a big fat ‘don’t bother’ and doesn’t say anything else.  Well that’s rude.

“Did you ask Allura and Pidge what they’re planning on getting him?”  Lance asks.

“No, let me ask.”  Hunk texts them both.  Pidge says no, then got upset realizing they went to the mall without her.  Allura responds with a ‘you’ll have to wait and see’ response. Hunk pouts. “Allura already got something and Pidge is just mad we went shopping without her.”

“Meh she can bite us.”  Lance comments and went into another store.  “Seriously though, why didn’t he tell us his birthday was coming up?”

“Maybe he’s still upset with you… for some unknown reason.”  Hunk points out.

“Still… he could’ve told you, or Allura.”  Lance states. “I really don’t get him.”

“Yeah, why did the universe put you two together again?”

“I dunno.”  Lance shrugs.  He was starting to feel depressed again, but Lance tried to play it off as him thinking.  Nothing was wrong, everything in his world is A-okay. Hunk was looking at random objects, none of them would be good for Keith.  Shopping for someone with a lack of vision was probably the hardest thing he has ever done in his life.   Lance kept looking, he looked through toys, objects, clothes, anything.  Nothing really seemed perfect. But he was stubborn, he was not going to give up that easily.

“I found a squeaky toy… but I think Cosmo would like that more.”

“He’s obsessed with Cosmo, he’d take it anyways.”

“It’s not for the dog, it’s for him!”  Hunk objects and kept looking. They went to the next store over, it’s theme being anything sugary and sweet.  Mainly girls shop there, but they were starting to become desperate.

Lance looks through clothes while Hunk began to mess with any toy he could find, he had to enjoy himself somehow.  Lance stops on one item and gasps.

“Perfect!”

“What?”  Hunk turns and sees his grey friend take out a large black hoodie.  “Lance, I think we should steer away from hoodies, he’s got a collection of those.”

“No dude, look!”  Lance held it up, it was a cat hoodie.  “It’s long and really big! Feel the inside!”  He made Hunk feel, it was soft, fleece? “Keith can just bury himself in this, it can be something he cuddles into!”

“Keith’s cuddly?”

“Have you met him?”  Lance asks with a chuckle.  “He is a big cuddler, he also loves soft things, it’s a new texture so he’ll probably bury his face in it.”  Lance smiles at the thought. “I’m so getting this for him!” He ran up and paid for it.

The two go to another store to find something Hunk can buy, they walk into the store that was managed by the three adults they’ve met thanks to Pidge.  They look over and smile.

“What are you two dorks doing here?”  Nyma asks. Lance smiles and held up his bag.

“We’re buying things for Keith’s birthday.”  The three froze.

“Hold up… Keith’s having a party this year?”  Nyma asks.

“Well… no.”  Lance says.

“We thought it’d be nice to buy him some gifts.  It’s his special day after all.” Hunk states. Nyma, Rolo, and Silver all look at one another.

“Rolo we need to think of something to buy him.”

“I agree.  We can look after work.”  Rolo nods in agreement. Silver was already on the phone with Matt talking about what to do for a gift.  … Don’t these three have a store to run?

As that was going on a very angry and out of breath Pidgey runs in.

“I finally… found… you two…”  Pidge says. “I… I cannot believe… you two… came here… without me… phew.”  She got up. “Out of breath.”

“We can tell.”  Hunk says. “Lance already found a gift.  I’m looking now, but it’s hard to find anything for him.”

“Well you could invite me.  I’m his best friend.” Pidge says.  “Trust me, I know what he likes.” She smirks at the two.  They look at her and nod, needing her help. “Great, let’s go!”

They walked into multiple stores, Hunk and Pidge finally got what they wanted for him, Pidge buying him a ‘bop it’ so he has a game to play at least.  Hunk gave up on finding something cheap that he could afford that Keith would like. Then he had an idea. He told the two and they agreed.

They run out and went back to Hunk’s place to begin preparations.

* * *

“What?”  Shiro looks at his friend the next day like he was an idiot.

“I think it’s a good idea.  This Allura girl wants to throw Keith a party, so why not give him one?”  He asks, Shiro looks down. “Come on, you two always celebrate it by yourselves.  Has Keith ever gotten a gift from you?”

“I give him things on Christmas.  But he never tells me what he wants.”  Shiro sighs. “I asked him the first year I had him, he told me that I gave him the best gift he could ever want.  I don’t know what that gift even was.”

Matt gave his friend a smile, he blows on his coffee and took a long sip while Shiro thought about it.  He held his head and kept looking at anything that wasn’t Matt or his work. He finally gave in with a smile.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.  Maybe he’ll like having one for a change.”  He looks at Matt. “Okay, let’s do it.”

“His birthday is on a school day so his friends won’t be able to help out.  So let’s plan it earlier.”

“How much earlier?”

“Well… how about this weekend.  If everyone gets involved.” Matt smirks, he has an idea.  Whatever it was, Shiro was on board.

* * *

Allura walks over to her mailbox at the gate of her home and takes the mail inside.  She puts the letters on the table in the entry way and takes the package to the front room.  She opens it and sees her gift for Keith was okay. She smiles and wraps it up.

“Allura?  What are you doing?”

“Wrapping Keith’s birthday gift.”  She held up her horribly wrapped gift.  “... I may need to work on it…”

“Wait, Keith’s birthday is coming up?”

“Yes, Pidge told everyone when we plan on having it.  It’s a surprise~”

“Why does no one tell me these things!”  Coran snaps. He ran out of the house to buy something for Keith.  Allura shrugs and continues to try wrapping the gift.

* * *

The date was set, everyone was excited with the plan.  Shiro got Kolivan involved in taking Keith out for a bit.  Everyone ran in and decorated the apartment the best they could.  Hunk ran in and showed off what he did for the occasion.

“I present my masterpiece!”

“You made this?”  Shiro asks while looking at the cake.  “I can’t even make cookies.”

“Dude, you burn water.”  Matt comments. Shiro glares at his friend.  Nyma ran in with ice cream, Rolo had two two liters of root beer.

“We’re making floats if it’s the last thing we do.”  He says like it’s a fact. Shiro rolls his eyes. Pidge sits on the counter with Allura.

“This is actually kind of exciting.”  Allura says all giddy. “Should we hide?”

“From Keith?  Sure.” Matt says.  “Found the perfect spot.”  He stood in the middle of the room, everyone laughs.  Allura pouts, she wanted to make it like a real surprise party for Keith.  Both her and Lance had such a hard time keeping the secret all week. Don’t even get her started on Hunk, boy threw his phone whenever Keith decided to ask him something.

Coran helps Nyma and Silver set up, he looks at everyone and raised a confused brow.

“Where’s Lance?”

“He should’ve been here by now.”  Shiro says with a shrug. Ask and you shall receive, Lance ran in at that moment, all out of breath.

“Sorry, sister was a bitch and took my car!”  He tells them. “I ran all the way over here, not a good idea.  You live so far in the city!”

“Where do you live?”

“The ghettos.  Where the poor people live!”  Lance explains in anger. “Anyways, I’m here and that’s all that matters.”  He puts his gift on the table with the others, he notices the poorly wrapped one.  “Heh, this one looks like it got stuck to the person’s hand.”

“It’s the tapes fault.”  Allura mumbles. Lance smirks at her, hearing her mumbling.  He walks over to the couch and flops on it.

“Wake me when Keith shows up.”  Lance says. They all let him be lazy and continued setting up.

Meanwhile Keith was walking with Kolivan, beyond confused and annoyed that he was walking for no reason.

“Why are we even out here?”

“That is the fifth time you’ve asked.”  Kolivan says.

“Yeah, and it’s a good question to ask.”  He states. “I don’t know why you wanted me to walk around the cold city on a weekend for no reason.”

“You’ve been slacking on your routine as of late.”

“Oh really?!”  Keith lifts his jacket and shirt, showing his body.  “Does this look like someone who’s been slacking?!”

“Yes.”  Kolivan lies.  “Come on. We are almost done with our walk.”

“You said that nearly an hour ago!”  Keith snaps.

“Do not snap at me boy.”  He says. “Your dog is doing a lot better than you.”

“Show off.”  Keith grumbles at Cosmo, he kept walking around happily.  Enjoying the walk, Cosmo was a simple creature. He likes walks, doesn’t matter the time.

Kolivan’s phone went off, Shiro telling him to bring Keith back.  He smirks and looks at Keith.

“Come on, I’ll take you back home.”

“Oh thank God.”  Keith comments.

* * *

Everyone stood around, Hunk knocking Lance off the couch to wake him up.  He squeaks in anger, then looks at the door with everyone. They heard Keith complaining to Kolivan that the walk was stupid.  Kolivan didn’t comment, he just lets him complain.

He opens the door grumbling.

“Next time you think I’m slacking then how about pu-”

“SURPRISE!”  Everyone screams, causing Keith to jump back, hitting Kolivan.  He was laughing at Keith’s reaction. Even with the hood everyone could see his paranoid eyes.  Cosmo runs in to greet all his friends. Shiro unclips his leash and walks up to Keith.

“Did we get you?”

“W-W-W-W-”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“What is going on?”  He asks quietly. Kolivan pushes Keith in, he was confused by everything.  Oh God please grant him sight so he can see what the hell was around him.

“Well everyone kind of did this behind your back because we knew you’d disagree to it.”  Shiro says. “But we all decided to throw you a party… surprise~”

“You… you all decided to throw me a party?  It’s not even my birthday.”

“Yeah, your birthday is way later this week.  We wanted to throw it with all your friends.” He tells Keith.  “We got everyone together to work on it.” Keith was silent, not knowing what to say.

“We’re sorry you were out for so long, we had to decorate the entire place.”  Pidge spoke up. Everyone nods in agreement, it was a lot of work to get the place done in a quick amount of time.  Keith continued to stay silent.

_ You have new people in your life who want to make it better. _

He felt something roll down his face, Shiro saw and panicked.

“Keith?  A-Are you crying?!”  He asks, everyone hesitates.  Hoping this wasn’t a bad idea.  Keith slowly faces him.

“You went through all this trouble… to celebrate my birthday?  Even when I was such a jerk and said no?” He asks. Shiro sighs and nods, waiting for the worst.  In an odd turn of events, he hugs Shiro tight and cried some more.

He was happy, so happy.  These people wanted him to have party, and they decorated it and everything.  Even though Keith can’t see it, the whole idea was touching. It made Keith feel normal, like he was just like them.  Not the black sheep of the group.

Shiro looks down with a smile and hugs him back.

“I love you guys.”  He pulls away and faces everyone.  “I mean it, I love you all. Thank you.  You… you have no idea what this means to me.”

Everyone awes and runs up to Keith.  The apartment filled with ‘we love you too’ and ‘happy birthday’.  Keith smiles and thus the party starts. Everyone ran to the small kitchen and put candles on his cake.

Only a 2 and an 0.  Shiro lights them, everyone sang happy birthday to Keith.  He blushes at the attention, it was different, something he isn’t use to.  Silver was taking pictures of the cake and Keith blowing the candles out. He managed to get them, he could tell cause the smoke went right into his face, he coughs it up and waves the smoke out of his face.

They take the candles out and began to cut the cake.

“The cake was made by Hunk, it’s his gift to you.”  Pidge said. “And trust me, I told him your favorite cake flavor.  He added a little something extra as well.” She tells him. Keith took the plate from Shiro.

“You want ice cream?”  Nyma asks. “I bought vanilla, sorry.”

“Sure.”  Keith nods with a smile.  Nyma takes some and puts it on his plate.

“I’m the ice cream lord, y’all got to ask me nicely to get some.”  She says playfully. Everyone chuckles and kept serving everyone. Keith picks at the cake, wondering what was so different.

He takes a bite, his eyes practically bulged out of his head.

“What is this?”

“I thought marble was boring.”  Hunk says. “So I added cookies and creme filling.”  He tells him, Matt looks at the cake with shock and began to stuff his face.  Silver had to get him to slow down. Shiro laughs.

“You just made Matt’s day.”  He told Hunk, the bigger boy smiles.  Proud of his creation. His love for baking gave him many joys, one of them was seeing everyone’s smiling faces.  They all ate and talked to one another. Keith enjoyed it. He wasn’t listening to everyone while he sat around, no he was actually socializing with everyone, it was nice.

Once everyone was done eating Pidge clapped her hands.

“Alright everyone.  This has been real fun and all, but now it’s time for the main event.  Keith?”

“What?”  He faces her.

“Get your ass over to this couch, you’ve got some things to open.”  She says. Keith quickly got up and walks over to the couch. He was trying so hard to contain his excitement, but everyone could tell.

He sat down, Pidge was right next to him.  Everyone walks in and sat around the place, Silver got her phone out again and began to film it.

“Alright, the first one is from me, you’re bestest friend in the whole world.”  She says, Keith chuckles. He opens it and everyone either ‘ooo’s or laughs. Keith felt it, then the game started, he jumps and threw it on the ground.  Pidge picks it back up.

“It’s a ‘bop it’ genius.  You can play with it.”

“Really?”  He sounded way to happy, finally something he can play.  “Thanks.”

“No problem.  Alright the next one is this really tiny gift… Kolivan?”

“Yes.”  He nods.  Pidge hands it to Keith for him to open.  He opens it and felt it, everyone in the room was confused.

“Uh… what exactly is that?”  Shiro asks. Kolivan picks it up and grabs a cup.  He latches the small object onto the cup and hands Keith a coke can.

“Pour your drink into this cup.”  He says, Keith shook his head. He has experienced many spillings in his day, not going back to that.  “Trust me.”

Keith opens the can, with a final prayer he slowly started pouring, waiting for it to overflow like always.  Then a beep could be heard. He stops his pouring and faces the cup with slight confusion. Did the cup beep?

“That device lets him get his own drinks and tells him when it’s full.”  Kolivan says. “I thought he might like something that lets him be a little more independent.”  He states, Shiro nods. He was totally fine with that idea, and Keith seems to like it too.

“That’s so cool!  Shiro I can get my own drinks now!”

“Neat isn’t it.”  Shiro responds. Keith nods and puts the cup down.  He was handed another gift.

“This one is from Matt and Silver.”  She says, everyone could hear Matt and Shiro’s giggling.  Kolivan looks at the two then at Silver, who was giving the most ‘I’m seriously done with them’ face he has ever seen.

Keith opens it, it was a shirt.  Pidge groans.

“Seriously you guys?  I know Silver didn’t get a say in this.”

“I did not.”

“What is it?”  Keith asks.

“A shirt that says “my gps runs on bacon” and has a dog on it.”  She says. Keith gave an unamused face, Lance and Coran began to laugh though.  The four dorks who had the same sense of humor, make it five cause deep down Keith knew Pidge was wanting to laugh.

“Mine next!”  Nyma says. “Rolo and I know you’ll love this!”

“What is it?”  Keith felt the box, it felt like nothing was in it.  He opens it and felt something fluffy and soft, but another side was a lot rougher.

“Surprise!  They’re grip gloves!  You can hold onto your cane, leash, and even use your smartphone while you’re in the cold!”  Nyma says. “We got different pairs that have different designs and textures, so you can pick which ones you like while also matching your outfit.  You’re welcome.”

“Just so everyone knows, I had the gloves idea, she decided to be all extra and get fifty pairs of them.”

“It’s only five!”  She snaps. Keith puts his hood down and rubs the different gloves on his face, feeling how soft they all were.

“Thanks, I really like them.”  He smiles at them. “I don’t have to use those cheap gloves anymore.  This will really help.”

“Anytime our wonderful friend ~”  Nyma says proudly.

“Here’s Coran’s.”

“Mine was last second, so don’t hate on it.”  He demands. Keith opens it, then opens the package.  Something warm and fleece like falls onto his lap and on the floor.  “It’s a blanket!”

“Fleece?”  Keith asks.  “Sweet!” He wraps up in it and smiles.  “I love fleece, it’s so soft.” He buries his face into the blanket, a big grin on his face.

“The color is nice too, what is it?”  Lance asks.

“That my dear boy is burgundy.”

“It’s pretty.”

“Looks grey to me.”  Shiro says, Lance stuck his tongue out.

“Alright, mine next.”  Lance hands it over, Keith lets go of his anger towards his supposed “soulmate” for now and decides to see what Lance had gotten him.  He tears it open and again it falls onto his lap.

“Another blanket?”  He asks boredly. Lance pouts, Keith was just being cold to him.  How unfair. Shiro walks over and pulls on it to see what it is. Hunk spoke up from where Lance was sitting.

“It’s a hoodie.  He thought it’d be perfect for you.”

“I already have a lot, thank you.”  Keith says, Lance looks down. Of course a hoodie wasn’t a good choice, what was he thinking.  He is such an idiot.

Shiro began to laugh.

“It’s shaped like a cat!”

“Huh?!”  Keith took it back and felt it.  “Is this a fucking joke? Why did you buy me this?!”

“I-I thought you’d like how it felt on the inside.”

“Inside?  Why would I ca-”  He felt the inside of the hoodie, and of course it’s the soft fleece he loves.  All his other hoodies either lost all their softness or are made of different material.  He lightly presses his face to the inside and faces away from Lance’s direction.

“Thanks… I guess.”  He grumbles. Lance looks down, Nyma walks over and pats his back.  Telling him not to take it personally, but it was personal and Lance knew it.

The last gift was the poorly wrapped one.  Keith felt it and raised a brow.

“Clearly someone does not know how to wrap.”

“Just open it!”  Allura snaps in embarrassment, Kolivan chuckles at her misery.  She pouts at the older man and watches Keith open it. He tore the box open with ease, receiving an ‘unfair’ from Nyma.  He chuckles and takes out whatever was in the shipping box. He pulls out a heavy object box. Everyone gave a ‘wow’ while Keith was left in the dark.

“So… what is it?”

“It’s a bluetooth speaker!”  She opens the box for him and hands it to him.  “You can play your music out loud, and it’s portable.”

“Really?  Yay I can mess with Shiro with this!”

“Why did you buy him that?!”  Shiro asks in sadness, Allura laughs.

“I thought he’d like it.”

“Well I won’t like it.”  Shiro points out. He knows Keith’s music choices, he’s gonna be listening to Darude Sandstorm on fucking repeat now.  Keith chuckles and puts it down.

“That’s it.”  Pidge says, everyone claps.  Like it was a show.

“Thanks you guys.  Again, you all have no idea how much this means to me… how much you all mean to me.”  They all surround him and trapped him in a group hug. The rest of the party was spent setting up the speaker, the five younger ones playing with the bop it, Matt trying to eat more cake, Silver stopping him, and chatting away.

When it was time for everyone to leave Keith felt exhausted but happy.  A party for him, one where no one belittled him or made him sad that he couldn’t see.  And he got gifts that he will definitely use, so bonus.

“Sorry I didn’t get you anything.”  Shiro brought up while he was cleaning up, Keith looks at him with confusion.

“What are you talking about?”

“I didn’t get you a gift.  I was so caught up in preparing the place that I forgot to buy you something.”

“Shiro, you’ve already given me the greatest gift of all.”

“You say that every year yet I have no idea what it is.”  Shiro says. Keith just smiles at him.

“You gave me a second chance.”  He says, Shiro just looks at Keith with slight surprise.  His gift was taking Keith in? That’s what Keith considers an amazing gift.  Shiro couldn’t help but smile at that, thinking that it should be the other way around.  Keith gave him a second chance at life, a reason to become a better man. Keith really was a blessing, even if he doesn’t know it.

He walks into his room and stretches, long day.  He takes his clothes off and flops on his bed, Cosmo right next to him.

“That was so much fun!”  He says happily. He felt the blanket Coran got him, it spread out nicely.  Keith liked how big it was. Then the other thing brushed past his fingers, the hoodie.  He picks it up and felt it between his fingers. He huffs, still not knowing what the hell Lance was thinking when buying it.

He kept feeling it, the outside, inside, everything.  He even found a tail, how fucking weird. Keith was playing with the hoodie, the dumb hoodie.  The thing he wouldn’t even be caught dead wearing, such an stupid gift.

Well… might as well try it on just to see how it fits… right?

He slides it on and realizes how big it was.  It went past his hips and landed just slightly above his legs.  His arms were consumed by the sleeves. He puts the hood up and felt the ears, he kept rubbing them, the soft soft ears.  He blushed… okay it’s a comfy hoodie. But he won’t wear it outside of his house, final.

And he’ll never tell anyone that he likes it.  He curls up on his bed with it on and falls asleep.

“Hey Keith, did you put awa-”  He stops when he sees Keith asleep, smirking at what he sees.  “So pathetic.”

* * *

Lance was awoken by his phone, he wanted to sleep away his depression dammit.  At least Marco was out cold. He picks it up and checks the message. It was from Shiro oddly enough.

He opens his messages and sees a picture of Keith fast asleep wearing the cat hoodie he bought him.  With an added message saying ‘he likes it’.

Lance smiles, opening the picture and admiring his soulmate.

“I don’t understand you at all Keith.  But I guess that’s one of the things I love about you.”


	16. Viridian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lookie here, a chapter posted sooner :)  
> Okay this one I don't like but then again I never really like my writing. But I hope you all enjoy it.

Pidge walks around the city with Silver, just hanging out like normal girls.  They got a coffee from a random cafe and looking at all the sights as the town got ready for the spookiest time of the year.  Orange and purple lights everywhere, pumpkins sitting along the streets, some already smashed. Others were fine, because they were fake, must’ve made some kids feet hurt.

Silver looks over and sees one thing on a store’s window.  She walks over and reads it, Pidge notices her sister was standing around and seeing something.  Pidge walks over and sees what Silver was looking at.

“What is this?”

“An attraction.”  Silver says. “Apparently someone is opening up a haunted house Halloween night.”

“Huh?  Really?”  Pidge looks at the poster, all dark greys swirl around a cleshay house.  “What are they like?”

“Well I remember Nyma, and I going through one in college.  It was quite spooky despite being made by a bunch of frat boys.  People and other things would pop out of nowhere to scare you.” She says.  “Nyma’s fight response kicked in though and I had to drag her out.” The memory made Silver sigh, however Pidge chuckled.

“But are they fun?”

“Yes, if you plan on going with someone who doesn’t punch first.”  Silver says. “I think it’d be fun.”

“Yeah, Allura wants to do things with her friends on Halloween.  This’ll be great!” She took a picture. She sends it to her friends via group chat and went back to hanging out with her sister.  Enjoying her time with her.

* * *

Lance walks into the locker room and changes clothes, grumbling as he did.  The locker rooms were always so cold, his balls always go north. He gets into his normal street attire and pulls his phone out of his pants pocket.  He turns it on and sees a group chat has been going on without him, rude.

He sees what everyone has been talking about.

_*Pidgey has sent an image*_

A picture of a cheesy haunted house that’s in town.  Well that’s interesting.

_Pidgey: so do you guys wanna go to this?  Silver said it’d be fun._

_Princess: I’ve never been in one before!  I would love to try it!_

_Hunkyboi: pass.  Those things scare me._

_Pidgey: thats kind of the point Hunk._

_Hunkyboi: Still_

_Princess: Come on Hunk, this will be loads of fun.  It’ll be with all of us I’m sure._

_Hunkyboi: STILL!_

_Pidgey: you’re a bigger chicken than Lance._

_Keefers <3: I am so confused.  What are we talking about? _

_Pidgey: Oh yeah… we should fill Keith in._

_Princess: A haunted house._

_Keefers <3: oooh so much fun.  That was sarcasm. _

_Pidgey: I’ve known you for so long I could read the sarcasm off of that._

_Keefers <3: good _

_Hunkyboi: so Keith is out?  That makes this a tie. It’s all up to Lance._

_Princess: You all are a bunch of neigh sayers._

_Princess: *naysayers_

_Pidgey: lol_

_Keefers <3: Siri just read that and now Shiro is dying of laughter. _

_Hunkyboi: I hate autocorrect too Allura, don’t take it to heart._

_Princess: I am two seconds away from throwing the thing._

_Pidgey:  Anyways, we just have to wait for Lance.  Lanky boy should be done with practice soon._

Lance chuckles, his friends really do know how to make him laugh.  They don’t even have to try, they just have to have normal conversation and it’s enough to make a comedy sketch.  He types his answer. A big fat “yay” for him. He was all for it.

_Hunkyboi: i will never speak to you again.  You traitor._

_Keefers <3: way to turn against the guys. _

_Pidgey: Yes!  Haunted house!_

_Princess: Can we still do costumes?  I’ve never dressed up for Halloween._

_Pidgey: maybe after the haunted house.  I think it’d be fun to dress up again._

_Keefers <3: Oh boy.  Another year of being a ghost. _

_Princess: I have another idea in mind._

* * *

“So you’re going to a haunted house this weekend?”  Shiro asks the next morning before work. Keith nods and messes with the tail on his cat hoodie.  “That sounds fun.”

“Don’t know what I’ll do there.”  He was not happy about going. Also Allura’s costume idea, that’ll be “fun”.  He and Pidge plan on shopping later that day after she was out of school. So plenty of time for him to hate his life.  Shiro chuckles and grabs his keys.

“Okay, I’ll be home soon.  Don’t stay out too late costume shopping.”  Shiro tells him, Keith gave a two finger salute and continues to lay on the couch with Cosmo.  He cuddles into his hoodie and tries to fall back asleep. He had nothing to to that day, so he just had to wait it out.

* * *

“I hate shopping.”

“Oh be quiet, we need to get our costumes so Allura will stop whining to us.”  Pidge says. “She really is a spoiled princess.”

“Yeah, how did we become friends with her again?”

“She started hanging out with Lance and Hunk, it started from there.  I think she went to them cause she’s socially awkward and had no friends prior to us.”  Pidge points out as they walk to the party store in the mall. It was full of clichay decorations and costumes ranging from kid friendly to “i’m a little hoe”.

Pidge looks around with both hers and Keith’s costumes in mind.  Looking at ones her size first, since Keith will be a little harder to find.  She looks through costumes, wanting one more kid friendly then what they’re offering.  She keeps looking through and finds one that might work.

“Okay, I’m gonna go try it on.  Stay out here.”

“Kay.”  Keith waits outside with Cosmo sitting next to him.  He could hear kids talking to their parents, telling them that they see a scary werewolf.  They probably think Keith and Cosmo are props.

“Well, guess everyone is shopping here.”  Keith hears a familiar voice say in an almost sing song voice.  He jumps and tugs on his hood.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well my sisters wanted to pick my costume for me.  Allura texted me the idea and they said and I quote “ _Hermano_ let us pick your costume!  We can so help you.”, and now here I am.”  Lance says. “So what are you going as?”

“We’re going as a group, so take your pick.  You’ve got four choices.”

“Yeah, still don’t know why Allura chose a group costume that had only four options… she made it work somehow.”  Lance sounded a little annoyed, like he didn’t like the costume idea.

“You sound… a little upset.”  Keith points out. Lance laughs it off.

“No way dude, I’m fine.”

“Lance.”  Keith warned.  Lance stops and looks away from Keith, putting his attention on Cosmo.  Didn’t work cause Keith was still staring him down.

“Okay… I don’t like the ideas we had, and I don’t trust my sisters.  They always try to embarrass me.” He admits, sounding rather upset about it.  Keith heard that and a smirk grew on his face.

“Heh, sounds like Shiro.”  He says. “He and Matt always find ways to mess with me.”  That got Lance to look at Keith with a look that said, elaborate.  The silence was a signal for Keith to keep talking. “Like, I hate fruity sodas, so Shiro puts a few cans in the fridge with all my cokes.”

Lance chuckled at that, he remembers Keith mentioning that.  “Another thing is that sometimes when Matt comes over he decides to put me in a headlock and wrestle with me.  Shiro does nothing about it.” A slightly louder chuckle. Almost… “Or every once in a while Shiro will sneak into the bathroom when I’m taking a shower and turns the water on cold, making me nearly jump out of my skin.”  And he got him.

Lance was full on laughing, Keith smiles at that.  Lance had a nice laugh, it’s so bright and alive. Keith never gets enough of it.

The two didn’t notice Pidge behind them, smirking the entire time.  To be fair Keith wouldn’t notice unless she gave herself away.

“Well, hope I’m not interrupting anything.”  She says, both boys jump. Lance looks at her, Keith just faces her.

“Oh, jeez you scared me.”  Lance said.

“Tis the season.”  She says with a smile.  “So what are you two talking about?”

“Nothing, just talking about sibling issues.”  Lance says, Keith tugs on his hood some more to hide his eyes.  “Nice to hear I’m not the only one who puts up with older siblings.”

“You mean how Shiro and Matt mess with him?  Cause yeah, it happens a lot.” Pidge nods and looks at Keith.  “Matt got to wrestle with someone his size that didn’t get him in trouble with our parents.”

“Heh, your brother just wanted a playmate huh?”

“Oh yeah.  Totally.” In the middle of their conversation Lance’s sisters ran up with his costume and pushed him inside before he got a chance to argue.  They went in with him. Pidge saw that and chuckled. “He has it way worse.”

“What just happened?”  Keith asked, looking mildly concerned.

“Nothing.  Come on, let’s find yours.”

“Kay, come on Cosmo.”  Keith says, Cosmo follows obediently.  They wander around the store, finding little things that could go with his costume.

“Hm…”  Pidge takes Keith’s hood off and puts a hat on him.  “... If we take the ears off of this, I could get my mom to sew them onto this hat.”

“Oh boy.”  Keith deadpans.

“Here, let’s go try this on.”  They walk to the changing rooms, Pidge helping Keith with what goes on first and what goes over and under and all that.  He had it all on, she nods and takes a picture so she had a reference.

“Okay, strip boy.  We’ll buy this, and I’ll get my mom to sew.”

“Kay.”  Keith takes everything off, Pidge whistles at one point.  Keith turns red and tries to hit her with his cane. She laughs and curls away from the canes wrath.

“Oh come on, it’s a compliment Keith.”

“Die!”

* * *

At school Allura and Pidge walk into the school’s bakery to see if Hunk was inside.  He was, baking some breakfast treats. He sees his friends and waves.

“Hey you two.  How goes it?”

“Great.”  Allura said and held up a five.  “I’m here to buy an apology muffin.  Apparently Lance had a less than pleasant time with his costume.”

“Oh boy.”  Hunk pulls out a smores muffin and hands it to her.  “So you guys got your costumes?”

“I had to order a walker online, besides that I have everything I need.”  Allura said. Pidge nudges her with her hip.

“Lucky, I had to buy everything and Keith’s yesterday.”  She says, her older friend giggles. Hunk also had to laugh at that.

“I had to borrow a few things from my Pop, so I got everything for free.”

“I hope you both perish.”  Pidge says. “I’d buy something, but I went broke buying two costumes.”

“Oh I’m sorry that you had to buy Keith’s as well.”

“Well like hell he was going to buy it.”  As they spoke Lance walked in and flops against Allura’s back.  She pats his head and held the muffin up. He takes it but didn’t leave.

“I can’t believe you chose for me.  My sisters were evil.”

“So sorry, but you probably look good.”

“I look like shit, like always.”

“Okay since when have you ever looked bad?”  Pidge asks.

“Uh, since I saw what I looked like with color.”  Lance says. “Don’t argue, you have no idea what I look like fully colored.”

“Yeah, we aren’t as lucky as you.”  Pidge told him. “Can I have your muffin?”

“Oh you think I’m lucky?!”  Lance asks. “Ha, I wish. But I’m destined to be with the most stubborn guy on the planet… no you can’t have my muffin.”

“Damn.”

“Oh come on Lance, Pidge told me you two talked yesterday.”  Allura said.

“Yeah, the first decent conversation since the whole reveal.”  Lance takes a bite and grumbles a bit. “I wish he felt the same way about me.”  The other three look at him, dumbfound.

“Are you serious?”  Hunk asks. Lance tilts his head, very confused.  “Dude he definitely feels the same way about you.”

“Since when?”

“Lance, he use to cuddle to you, flirt with you, and respond positively to all your calls and texts.”  Pidge says. “I think it’s safe to say he feels the same way about you.”

“Not anymore.”  Lance mumbles.

“That’s just Keith, Lance.”  Pidge says as she plucks a chocolate chip off of his muffin. “He’s always hated the idea of soulmates. Maybe you should ask him about it.”

“Like he’ll tell me.”  Lance told her and takes another bite.  Pidge sighs, agreeing with him on that. Keith doesn’t tell anyone about his past, it’s his problem so he rather keep it to himself.  Lance finishes his muffin and took a juice pouch from the drink station. Hunk groans and puts a dollar in the register.

The bell rang for class, everyone sighs and walks to their first hour class.  The day was slow, everyone just wanted to go home and get ready for Halloween.

* * *

Keith walks out of his room tugging a hoodie over his body.  He managed to get his head through and fixed his fluffy hair before tugging his hood over his eyes.  Shiro walks back up to their apartment with a basket of laundry.

“You going now?”  He asks while beginning to fold everything, Keith nods.

“Yeah, Hunk said he’d pick us all up.”  Keith grabs his phone. “We’re going out after that to do something.”

“Sounds fun.  Just be careful, okay?”

“Yeah yeah.  Come on Cosmo.”  Keith puts his leash on and the two walk out.  Keith waits outside while he hears kids run around in their costumes.  Hunk drives up, Allura opens the back door for him. Keith and Cosmo hop in and sat next to her.  Pidge was on the floor between the front and back seats.

Hunk looks back at everyone.

“Okay, Pidge where is this place?”

“According to the poster, it’s on 8th street.”

“That place that looks like Lance’s neighborhood?”  Hunk asks with a cruel smirk. Lance punches his arm, he does not like being reminded how poor he was.  They made it to the place, seeing the old building where the whole thing was taking place in.

A lot of people were already there.  They all walked in and saw the place was full.  The place had an area for buying tickets, a fun zone, an entrance to the haunted house, and a cafeteria.

They bought their tickets and walked into the cafeteria to wait for their number to be called.  Allura puts Cosmo’s number on his leash, everyone else was holding onto theirs.

“So did you guys bring your costumes?”

“Yeah, we can get changed in the truck.”  Pidge said. “Keith my mom got the hat done.”

“Cool.”  Keith messed with his soda can he got.  Hunk bought a chili dog and scarfs it down.  Lance and Pidge shared an order of nachos. Allura looks at the menu, thinking about getting something.

“What sounds good Keith?”

“I’d give you an answer if I knew what was on the menu.”  Keith said.

“Well you clearly got a soda.  But they have chili dogs, hot dogs, nachos, ham sandwiches, soup, and a lot of baked treats.”

“Sounds like a school potluck.”

“Yeah it kind of does.”  Allura said. “So do you want to split a brownie?”

“Sure.”  Keith said.  Allura got up and bought a brownie.  A few more groups were in there, one being a family.  The eldest boy was complaining that his siblings were huge chickens and that he had to be in another group by himself.  Apparently someone spooked one of his sisters who were going to go in, but she changed her mind and threw her ticket away.

Allura comes back with a brownie and a spare fork for Keith.  She cuts it in half and ate her half. It was boring to wait for your number.  Once the speakers came on saying your number was up they all got up and walked to their line.

A man was instructing them by the door.  Everyone needed a buddy, and a buddy who could at least see, so Keith and Cosmo needed to be in a group of three, seeing as how they had an odd number of people.

“Okay so find a buddy.”  He said.

“Hey Keith, why don’t you partner up with Lance?”  Pidge asks with a smirk. Keith glares at her. “Come on, also your stare is off.”  He tried hitting her with his cane. “HEY! Lance you’ll be with Keith.”

“Who died and made you in charge?”

“Just do it.”

“I wasn’t going to say no.”  Lance said. “I would love to be with _Mi Cariño_ ~”  He purrs and clings to his side.  Keith grumbles, kind of missing the nicknames, but hating the fact that he was stuck with Lance.

“Hunk and I can be partners.”  Allura said happily. “What do you say?”

“If you’re fine with me screaming.”  Hunk said. “I get scared easily.”

“Oh don’t be silly, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”  They all lined up, Pidge sees the last person in their group.  It was that older guy who’s sister bailed on him. The two just stare at one another, both wore glasses, the man had sunglasses, and gave each other blank looks.

“Wanna be buddies?”

“I don’t see why not.”  He shrugs. They face ahead.  The man saw everyone was with a buddy and lead them in, then they were on their own, having to go together to find their way out.

“So what was the point of having a buddy if we’re all together?”  Allura asks.

“It’s in case we stray apart.”  The man with them said, Allura looks back at him.

“Does that happen a lot?”

“More than you think.”  He looks around. “Can’t see shit with these things.”  He takes his glasses off and puts them in his jacket pocket.  Pidge held onto his arm and looks around.

“Okay, this place is spooky.”

“Looks creepier in gray.”  He says, she nods in agreement.

“You all don’t know shit, this place is creepier in color.”  Lance argues.

“I can’t see shit…”  Keith mumbles. The man looks up and sees Cosmo leading.

“Did the dog seriously get a number?”

“Yeah?  He’s in our group.  Don’t judge.” Keith said.

“Right… okay then.”  The group kept walking in the dark, it was a large maze.  The finally made it outside and had to walk a path to get back in.  That’s when someone with a chainsaw runs out and at them. They all scream, well almost all of them.

“What?  What is it?”  He asks while panicking, the others were clinging to one another.  Trying to get the psycho away.

“RUN FOR IT!”  Hunk bolts ahead.  Allura after him.

“WAIT HUNK, I’M YOUR BUDDY!”  And they managed to separate from the group.  The others just stood there, even the actor.

“... you were right… that does happen.”  Lance said.

“Told ya.”  They continued onward.

* * *

“Hunk wait!”  Allura grabs him.  “Now look, we’re completely lost!”

“I’m sorry!  But it was every man for himself!”

“Hunk!”  She snaps.  “We need to find our group again!”

“Do you even know where we are?”  He asks. Allura looks around, then swallows hard.  She clung to his arm and shook her head.

“On second thought… let’s just find a way out of here.”

“Agreed.”

* * *

The group continued down the maze, looking for the way out.

“This is boring.”

“Shut up.”  Lance told Keith.  “Not my fault you don’t find it scary.”

“Oh I’m sorry, but who was the one who broke the tie?”

“This is something we could all do together.”  Lance said. He looks around, then looking back at Pidge and the man.  She was still clinging to his arm. They walked up a flight of stairs and saw two girls at the end holding each others hands and smiling.

“Come play with us… please?”  They ask. Everyone shook their heads.  “We don’t want to be alone~”

“No thanks.”  Pidge says.

“Aw… you’re no fun.”  They whine. Then something grabs Lance’s leg.  He yelps and jumps back, Keith grabs him and held him close.

“Will you knock it off?!”

“Something touched my leg!”

“God, Lance calm down!”

“No!”  He whines and hugged Keith tight.  Pidge groans and walks ahead with her buddy.  Keith pushed Lance off and walks ahead. Lance whimpers in fear and kept walking, he wishes that someone would hold him, he was freaking out.

“So Pidge… where do we go?”  No answer. “... Pidge?”

* * *

“And that’s why peanut butter cookies are the best cookies.”

“Fascinating.”  The man says.

“By the way where are we?”

“Hm?”  He looks around, noticing they were lost and had lost the others in their group.  “Oh that’s just great.”

“Now what?”

“Look for the way out.”  He held Pidge’s hand that was on his arm.  Something pops out of the wall at them, Pidge screams while the man looks at it.

“... How messed up am I that that did not scare me?”

* * *

Lance kept looking around in the dark hallway that they found.  He hated it, he could barely see in the place. The only way he knew he was still next to Keith was he could hear Cosmo’s leash and Keith’s cane whenever it hit something.  However every time he hit something it made Lance jump.

“Is this what you see all the time?  Nothing at all?”

“Don’t make me leave you all alone.”  Keith threats.

“No, please, I’m sorry!”  Lance clung to him again. Keith wiggles out of his grasp and kept walking.  “Keith please, I’m scared.”

“You wanted to come here.”  Keith said coldly. Lance looks down and continues to follow.  Something snags onto his jeans, causing him to trip and fall over.  He groans in pain and held his poor ankle before unsnagging his jeans.  He stood up, only to feel his ankle screaming at him to sit down and not walk on it.  Great, he must’ve sprained it in the dark room. He tried to reach for Keith… but he wasn’t near him… or in the room.

“Keith?”  Nothing. “Keith?!”  Total silence. “Keith!  Oh no, no no no. Cosmo? Hunk?  Allura? Pidge? That one random guy?  Anyone?!”

He panics and tried running out of the room, however his ankle gave out.  He fell on the floor and held his ankle close, gritting his teeth in pain.  He kept hearing the screaming of other guests and spooky sounds.  Add in on the fact he's alone in a dark room with no one to help him, and an ankle that refuses to move.  He cries a bit, crawling somewhere and hid, hoping someone finds him soon.

* * *

“This whole thing sucks.”  Keith complains, he thinks he was talking to Lance, who has gone quiet.  “Now you decide to shut up? Whatever, act that way. Fucking whiner.” He kept going till he opens the door that was the exit.  Cosmo walks with him and leads him to his friends, who were in the cafeteria waiting for him. The guy in their group had left with his sisters, telling them it had been fun.

They look at him and smile.

“Welcome back.  Was it fun for you?”

“No, cause I can’t tell what’s in front of me.”  Keith says. “Doesn’t help that Lance went silent after a while.”  The whole group raised a brow.

“Uh...Keith?”  Allura starts. “What do you mean?”

“I mean he’s giving me the silent treatment.”  Keith says. The group became worried, Pidge spoke up.

“Keith, when was the last time Lance spoke?”

“In the…”  He looked horrified.  He couldn’t have...

“You left Lance alone?!”  Hunk asks in anger.

“Hunk, calm down.  Keith didn’t know, he thought Lance was with him.”  Pidge defends her friend.

“I don’t care Pidge, we had a buddy system going!  We had that so no one got lost in there! Keith left Lance all alone in a place full of freaky shit, who knows how scared he is!”  Hunk snaps. As Pidge tried to reason with her friend, Keith faces the direction he just came from. He drops Cosmo and ran back in that direction.  

“Keith!  Wait, you need Cosmo!”  Pidge yells. He didn’t care, he fucked up.  He fucked up. Lance was terrified and Keith kept pushing him away and making him stay away.  He felt like an ass. A total jerk.

He ran in and sways his cane back and forth like a madman, workers saw him run by, wondering what he was doing.  He found some stairs and ran up them, tripping slightly as he asended.

“Lance?!  Lance, where are you?!”  He calls. “Fuck fuck fuck… Lance!”  He kept opening doors in the hallway he last had Lance in and swinging his cane around in hopes he hits something or someone.

He enters a dark room and swung his cane back and forth in worry, hitting everything in the room.  Finally he hits something that made a noise, a small yelp. He froze and hits it again, it moved.

“Lance?”  Keith asks.  Lance looks up, it’s still dark but he saw a faint outline.  He grabs Keith’s cane as to say he’s there. Keith got on his knees and felt for him.

Lance grabs his hand and nods, letting Keith know that he was right in front of him.  Keith lets out a sigh and puts his head on Lance’s knee.

“Oh thank God.”  He mumbles. “Thank God you’re okay.”

“Y-Yeah I’m fine.”  He says quietly. “Though I twisted my ankle badly.”

“What?!”  Keith felt down, Lance yelps when Keith made contact.  “Is it bad?”

“I can’t walk on it…”  Lance said. “I waited for one of the workers to come in and find me.  I didn’t want to risk injuring it more, cause I can’t see in here.”

“Lance…”  Keith tries to hide his face in Lance’s knee.  “I’m so sorry… I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

“It’s fine Kei-”

“No it’s not!”  Keith snaps. “It’s not just here either… I’ve been awful towards you, when all you’ve been is kind.  Now look at what I’ve done… I left you alone in the dark and you’re hurt…”

Lance stayed silent, he didn’t know what to say or how to make Keith feel better.

“It’s not that bad.”  He spoke up. “I’m sure I can walk it off or something.”

“Doesn’t change the fact I left you.”  Keith reaches for his hand, Lance grabs it and felt how strong Keith’s hold was.  “I- Let me help you out of here.”

“You know the way?”

“I… have a cane.”  Keith points out. Lance remembers, that’s right.  Keith uses it to get around, no matter how it looks.  Sometimes knowing a blind person pays off… by that he means getting out of dark rooms, but still good.

Keith stood up and helps Lance onto his feet.  Lance wraps an arm around Keith’s waist and hops on his good leg.  Keith swung his cane back and forth and helped Lance out of the haunted house.

The others were waiting at the door, they saw them and relief filled the area.  Hunk took Lance and helped him out, Pidge asking a billion questions, Allura gave Keith Cosmo and follows everyone out into Hunk’s truck.

“Does it hurt?”  Pidge asks as she applies pressure, Lance winces and nods.

“Yeah, a little.  I just need an ankle brace and I should be good.”

“Just a brace?”  Pidge asks like what she just heard was absolute bullshit.

“Yeah, trust me Pidgey, I’ve been through worse than this.”  He says with a smirk, she sighs and looks at Hunk and Allura, who were up front.  They stopped at a store and got pain killers and a brace. Allura runs back in and hands them back to Pidge.  Keith held Lance’s leg up while Pidge tightens it around his ankle.

He flinches and takes two pills dry.  It was a little better, but he still felt the sting.

“Will you be alright to dress up?”  Allura asks, Lance winks at her.

“Don’t worry beautiful, I can keep going.”  He says, Allura gave a relieved sigh. Mainly because Lance was alright.

Hunk sees where they were headed next, seeing a party going on down the street.

“Alright, let’s suit up.”  He says. Everyone began to change into their costumes, Keith needing help from Pidge.

They got done and hopped out, all dressed like “Little Red Riding Hood” characters.  Pidge was a younger Little Red and was probably the most adorable thing on the planet.  She looks at Allura, who was Granny, and smiles at her. Hunk hops out as a lumberjack, carrying a hatchet and everything.

Keith and Cosmo were the wolves, Keith rocking the wolf costume.  He tips his hat slightly, trying to look normal. Pidge even decorated his cane to make it match.

Lance was an older Red Riding Hood.  And his friends could see what he meant by his sisters were evil.  Apparently they forgot “child friendly” and went all out on the sexy route.  He pulls on the dress part to keep it down, but it didn’t work, the top of the dress was nice and tight on his shoulders and chest.

He was broader than a woman so it wasn’t a perfect fit.  They made it work however, even going to the tiniest of details, like fishnet leggings and red heels, thankfully not to high.  He didn’t need the extra height, or the strain on his ankle.

“If anyone laughs, they’re getting a heel to the face.”  He threatens, face bright red. They all nod. Pidge trying the hardest not to laugh.

“So what now?”  Allura asks in excitement.  Hunk points.

“Well a party is going on down there, so let’s go.”  He says, everyone cheers and walks over.

“So how did you know a party was going on?”

“Heard about it in school.  The person throwing it invited me.”  Hunk said. “They didn’t say anything about friends, but it’s a big house and a big party, so we’ll be fine.”

“That’s not a big house.”  Allura said.

“Yeah, you live in a mansion.”  Pidge states, Allura smiles sweetly.  Knowing that her living situation is very different.

They made it and saw how hectic it was, or how it sounded.  Keith wanted to cover his ears, the music was so loud. And it’s generic pop music, lame, turn on a remix.  Everyone walks in and finds something to do.

Hunk finds the friend who invited him and they started talking.  Allura and Pidge run to a game of beer pong and tried messing the two sides up by swatting the ball away.  Lance looks at Keith and smiles.

“Hey Babe.”

“Hm?”  Keith faces him.

“You look really good as a wolf, just saying.”  He says playfully. Keith felt hot and looks away.

“Whatever.”  He mumbles, Lance chuckles.  Keith tugs at Lance’s costume and sighs.  “Wish I could see yours.”

“Trust me, you don’t.”  Lance says. “Look like a creep in fishnets… can’t believe I let my sisters do this.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

“No sight, no opinion.”  He says, Keith chuckles.

“You sound like Pidge.  “No periods, no opinion.”.”  He says in his best Pidge impression, that got Lance to laugh.

“Don’t make me kick your ass Scrawny.”  Lance did his own impression, causing Keith to laugh.  The two kept doing impressions of their friends and making the other laugh.  People kept walking up to them to pet Cosmo, the wolf loved all the attention he was getting.

“This music blows.”  Keith comments, Lance looks over and smiles.

“Well not much we can do about it.”  He says. “Wanna go outside?”

“Yes.”  Keith groans, best idea ever.  The two, plus Cosmo, walk out into the fresh air.  Teenagers can musk a place up in only a few seconds, kind of amazing.

“I don’t even know what to do.  Can’t dance or anything due to this ankle.”  Lance says. “Though this is quite the party.  Must be one of Hunk’s baker friends.”

“It sucks.”

“You just hate the music.”

“I hate all the noise.”  Keith says quietly. “I don’t like a lot of noise… it’s something I depend on.  Once I hear too much at once, I start to lose focus.”

“Oh.”  Lance looks down.  “Well it’s nicer out here, right?”

“Not really.  I still hear a lot of unnecessary noise.”  He says. Lance scootches closer and leans against him.  Keith felt his arm snake around Lance’s body and pulled him close, he missed this more than he’d like to admit.

“What’s it like?”  He asks. “Being able to see nothing around you?”

“Close your eyes.  That’s pretty much it.”  He says. Lance closes them and leans against Keith.

“Doesn’t it creep you out?  The dark?”

“I can’t be afraid of it if it’s all I see.”  He tells him. Lance opens his eyes and curls into Keith more.  “What’s it like to see?”

“I don’t know… I’ve taken advantage of it my whole life.  I’ve never had to think about it.” Lance answers honestly.  “It’s an ugly world though, better to live in the dark.”

“I miss out on a lot of beautiful things in it though.”

“Heh, not much.”

“I don’t know what my friends look like.”  He admits. Lance looks at him. “I don’t know what Pidge looks like, or Hunk, or Allura, not even Cosmo.”  He pets the wolf in front of him. “I don’t know what you look like…”

Lance gave him a sad look, one of pity almost, which Lance never wants to feel towards Keith.  But he can’t help it, one thing he wants to see is his friends, but he can’t do that. He’ll never know.  He can’t see, but he has his other senses.

Lance takes his hand and puts it on his face.  Keith raised a brow at him, but moved his hand down Lance’s cheek, the smaller boy leans into his touch and smiles.

“Soft.”  Keith says, Lance chuckles.

“Yeah, I take care of myself.”  He tells him. The two went silent for a bit, Keith’s eyes go down, looking a little sad.

“I wish I could see you…”  He mumbles. Lance heard it and hugs Keith close.

“I can see you, and trust me… you couldn’t be more perfect.”  He says, Keith felt his heart swell up. He clings to Lance and tried his damn hardest not to cry.  He misses this, misses Lance. Misses how kind he is, how he treats him. He still doesn’t want to be soulmates with him, he’s still too afraid of the possibility that it’s a lie.  But he wants it to be true, he wants nothing more that for it to be true.

He loves Lance.

It was like a slap in the face, something that has been bugging him for a while now.  He truly loved Lance, and wanted to be with him. His past and insecurities were keeping him from what he wanted the most.  It won’t be overnight, or the next day, but someday… someday Keith was going to be ready, and hopefully Lance will wait for him.

“Guys?”  Pidge’s voice cuts in.  “We have to go. I’m afraid of cops showing… also Allura is drunk.”

“I’msteeeealing all their candy~”  She slurs, holding a candy bowl. Her entire face was flushed and she looked out of it.  Lance sighs and stood up.

“Alright, Hunk you coming?”

“Coming.”  He walks up with Allura’s walker and looks at his drunk friend.  “What were you thinking?”

“Shuddup, yer not... mahfader.”  She slurs again. Everyone sighs and drove her home first.  She runs inside to tell Coran that she stole candy… you know what?  Let her… she can deal with Coran on her own. She made the poor choice to get drunk.

The three drop Keith and Cosmo off.

“See you guys later.”

“Yeah.”  Hunk nods.

“See ya later Keith.”  Pidge salutes. Lance looks at him with a sweet smile.

“I love you.”  He says, Keith faces away, feeling his face heat up.

“Uh… yeah… see ya later.”  Awkward answer. Lance took it and slunk back into the truck.  They drove off leaving Keith to go upstairs alone. He smiles and walks inside.

_Road to recovery, step two.  Accept Lance as your soulmate, and escape from your past demons._


	17. Indigo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I rewrote this chapter about five times, no joke. I was so stumped and I got sick of looking at my one page doc so I left it, then come back and get annoyed all over again. I never like being gone for so long, but I was suffering under the biggest writers block I've ever had. Like usual, I don't like the chapter, but I had no clue what to write so I just went "fuck this" and wrote what came to my mind.  
> Enjoy the chapter if you can.

Pidge sat at the lunch table eating while Allura was faceplanted into the table.  Lance walks over with his lunch and looks at his friend.

“Huh, guess drinking wasn’t such a good idea now was it.”  He teases. She flips him off. Pidge looks down at his leg, it was slowly being stood on, like Lance noticed her staring so he decided to put it on the ground.

“Dude, are you sure your leg is okay?”

“Yeah, never better.”  He sat down and began to eat, she gave him a dirty look.  “Wow, that’s a new face.”

“Don’t lie Lance.”

“I’m not.”

“Dude, you’re not even walking on it.”

“Uh, yeah I am.”  He sassed. “Don’t worry about it, worry more about your friend over there.”  He teases yet again, Allura was two seconds away from kicking him. Hunk walks over with his own tray and sees Allura.

“And what did we learn today?”

“Piss off.”

“I wasn’t the idiot who drank.”  Hunk said. “By the way, good call.  The cops did show up later, oh boy did it get rough.”  He says happily. Pidge leans in, wanting to hear more.  Lance picks at his food. The two’s conversation became white noise.  He slowly lifts his leg off the ground, feeling slight relief from being off the ground.

The bell rang and the four stood back up.  Hunk felt a weight on his back and groans.

“Allura, I love you and all… but I am not carrying you.”

“Mmmmmmf.”  She buries her face in his back, he gave a done face and picks her up, giving her a piggyback ride.  She tries to wrap her legs around him, but there was too much of Hunk and not enough of her legs. Pidge took Hunk’s tray and walks with Lance to empty them, trying to see if he was truly walking fine.  If he was faking it, then he’s a good actor. Pidge walks away from her friends and snuck into the library in her usual hiding spot.

She doesn’t like to skip class, but she’s doing her group project and hates her partner.  Make them do the work for once. She sat down and pulls her phone out, looking through her contacts.  Pidge reaches the number she wants to contact and calls him. Hearing the phone ring, and ring, and ring, then a click.

“Hello?”  Keith’s voice came from the other side, Pidge smiles and curls into herself more.

“Hey Keith.”

“Well this is a surprise.”  He answers happily. “What’s going on Pidge?”

“Nothing, just worried.”  She says, Keith paused for a moment.  She sounded so concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m afraid Lance is lying to us.”

“Huh?”  Keith asks.  Pidge makes a sound of acknowledgement.  Keith thought about what it could be, then it hit him.  “Is it his leg?”

“Yeah, he’s walking on it like nothing’s wrong.  But if he’s faking it, then I’m worried that he’s putting too much stress on it.”  She says. “He won’t tell me if something’s wrong. He probably thinks it makes him more manly, or something like that.”

Keith doesn’t think that’s it.  Lance isn’t the type to want to play off as being manly, however he knows for a fact that Lance is a liar.  Keith feels bad though, this is his fault. He left Lance alone in that stupid house, he has to take responsibility for it.

“God dammit, this is all my fault.”

“No it’s not Keith, you couldn’t see if he was with you or not.”  Pidge says. “But I thought you should know.”

“Thanks for telling me.”  Keith said. Pidge felt herself smile, she loves talking to him, he makes her feel better.  “Tell ya what, how about you and everyone else come over after school. We can watch videos and eat all of Shiro’s snacks~”  He could hear her sniffle, was she crying? She was that worried for him, no one deserves a friend like Pidge.

“Y-Yeah.”  She answers with a smile.  They made a plan to meet up after school, texting her friends the plan.  She reads her messages in her peaceful hiding spot.

_ Mahgirl~: Sounds fun.  I would love to come over. _

_ Sunshine: Aren’t you in class?  But yeah, count me in. _

_ Stringbean: Aw!  I have dance practice.  This is bullshit :( _

_ Mahgirl~:  Will wait for you <3 _

_ Stringbean: Y’all better not have fun without me! _

_ Sunshine: We’re gonna have a ton of fun without you~ _

_ Stringbean: We are no longer friends… _

Pidge giggles and leans against the books in her spot.  She loves her friends so much, so lucky to have people like that in her life.

* * *

The group all hung out, watching lets plays.  Keith was laying on the couch, Pidge was sitting at the end where his legs were, holding his legs.  Hunk was on the chair, he had control over the TV, Allura was on the ground playing with Keith’s bop-it.  Cosmo was next to her, leaning against her. She wanted to beat his high score. Hunk kept checking his phone, Lance was texting him during practice.

After a few minutes of playing and watching videos Lance walks in, he threw his bag down and walks over to his friends.

“Hello Fuckers, have fun without me?”

“Yeah Hoe, a ton of fun.”  Pidge responds. Lance chuckles and walks over to the couch.  Now noticing Keith just laying there like a lump. He pokes the lazy boy’s head.

“Alright Beautiful, I want to sit down.”

“Pull up a piece of floor.”  Keith tells him, Lance pouts.

“I want to sit on the couch, there’s enough room for all of us.”  He says, Keith makes an oh so attractive noise, which sounded like an overweight dog turning over, and moved slowly.  Lance sat down and got comfy, Keith flops back down. Lance made a yelp and looks at him with hurt.

“You trying to crush my dick?!”

“You’ll live.”  Keith mutters and cuddles into Lance’s lap.  He lets out a huff and decided to talk to his other friends, Keith can be a lazy piece of shit.  Pidge plays with Keith’s legs and joined the conversation. Hunk was also the only one willing to talk, Allura was busy.

Their conversation was all about school, then changed to Pidge venting about her partners again and how she hates every single one of them.  She feels like she’s doing all the work and hates her life.

“And then he messaged me on facebook, who even uses that anymore?!  Anyways he had the nerve to ask if I had our report done. I didn’t put his name, fuck him.”  Pidge says.

“Ah yes, this is why I’m glad I have Hunk.”  Lance says while looking at his friend lovingly.  Hunk waves his hand as to say ‘shucks’, Pidge pouts at them.

“And this is why I choose to work alone.”  Allura says as she continues to play with the bop-it.

“I always needed a partner, and they all hated me cause no one wants to work with the blind guy.”  Keith said. “Except for Nyma and Rolo. Especially Nyma, that’s how we met.” He told his friends.  Lance smiles at him and scratches his head, Keith hums happily.

“I wish I had a Nyma, or a Hunk.”  Pidge says. “I wanted to be alone, but my teacher says I need to be more social.”

“Probably to help you when you go out in the real world.”  Lance says. “You need to know how to talk to people and learn how to communicate.”  He continues to scratch Keith’s head.

“Please, I’m more social than this guy.”  She says as she lifts his legs slightly, Keith let out a breathy chuckle.

“Yeah, but people are ignorant about Keith and he’s really awkward.”  Hunk points out, remembering all the times Keith has had issues with people.

“Not my fault.”  Keith mumbles. The others chuckle and chat about something else.

“Maybe you should join a club or another type of activity.”  Lance suggests, Pidge made a gag noise. “No I’m serious. I’m in dance, and Hunk is in the bakery.  We’ve met a lot of awesome people being in those things.”

“I have you guys.”  Pidge points out in defense.

“Well just because we’re in other things doesn’t mean we can’t have friends outside of our groups.  Lance is my best friend, yet we’re into different things.”

“Well…”  Pidge picks at Keith’s jeans.  “Like Keith, I’m awkward. I never know what to say and I choke up.  I’ve been bullied for so long that I’m scared to make more friends. I was just surprised you two came up to talk to me, since you two seem so popular.  Hell being friends with someone as gorgeous as Allura is kind of unbelievable.”

They all jumped when they heard someone go “ **AW** ”.  Allura just stares blankly at the bop-it.

“This thing makes me hate myself for messing up.”  She says blankly. They three all stared at her, just giving the most spooked look, but they all got scared by a bop-it, they felt pathetic.  She looks at all of them with a smile, nothing wrong in her world. She pats Cosmo’s head and starts again.

Keith makes an unhappy noise and pats Lance’s chest.  The lanky boy looks down with a raised brow. Keith grunts and reaches for Lance’s hand, he finally caught on and sighs.

“Alright alright.”  He went back to combing through Keith’s hair, scratching his scalp.  He hums and smiles. Pidge gave her friend a look he couldn’t see.

“You are pathetic.”  She says, he hums in response.  He doesn’t care, he’s being comforted.  The last time he had this was with his mom, he forgot how much he loves his head being scratched.

Lance took the remote from Hunk and typed in a new video, they watched a game review and watched along.  At one point the reviewer said ‘did you see that? I’m not making this up.’ to which Keith replied.

“No, I didn’t.  Rewind it please.”  That caused Pidge to smack his legs, he chuckles, thinking he was funny.  Lance rubs his head as he chuckles, silently calling him a lil shit. He faces Lance’s stomach with bright happy eyes.  Those eyes, hell his face in general, that face causes hearts to melt.

He went back to scratching and watched again.  Hunk watches lazily and sighs.

“Man, I am craving pasta…”

“Don’t make me hungry.”  Pidge says.

“I just got done with a dance routine, I am starving…”

“I like pasta.”  Allura says happily.

“Cool.  I’m going to get pasta.”  Hunk said. “Y’all want some?”

“Hold on.”  Allura puts the bop-it down and takes her backpack, she fishes for her wallet and looks through it.  “How much for me?”

“Pasta is usually ten, twenty bucks.  I dunno, I got paid by my gramps recently so I have money.”

“Nonsense.  Here.” She hands Hunk a fifty.  “Keep the change.”

“Y-You sure?”  He asks. Allura opens her wallet more and shows all the money she had.

“Merely just pocket change.”

“Bitch, that ain’t pocket change!”  Lance shouts. She stuck her tongue out and went back to playing.

“Okay… give me your orders.”

“I want ravioli and a cherry coke!”  Lance said. Hunk nods and types it in.

“Hmmm… fettuccine, add chicken.”  Allura said. “Also I want a soda!”

“What kind?”  Hunk asks, she sat there then shrugs.

“Surprise me.”

“Kay.  Pidge?”

“I’m coming with.”  She says and swung Keith’s legs off of her.  “This way I can get Keith’s food without you typing it.”

“Uh… is his order complex?”

“No, but if you’re going to that local joint then I’ll know what to order for him.”  She tells him. Hunk was slightly afraid, but got over it. “Let’s go, got to feed the inner italian in me.”

“The inner italian?”  Lance asks with a chuckle, she smirks.

“Full blooded baby~”  She tells him, Lance rolls his eyes while Pidge and Hunk walked out.  Allura kept playing with the bop-it while the other two kept watching/listening to the video.  Lance adjusts himself on the couch so his leg wasn’t touching the ground. Keith grunts as Lance moves, he was comfy!  Allura saw that and looks at him with concern.

“Is your leg still bothering you?”

“Huh?”  Lance looks at her, Keith’s eyes open and faces Lance.  “N-No no, it’s fine.” He responds, Keith slowly got up and faces him.

“Is it that bad?”

“I just said I was fine.”  Lance says. Keith moves his leg and lightly kicks at both of Lance’s legs, causing Lance to yelp in pain.

“Uh huh…”  He says, Lance glares at him.  He doesn’t care if Keith can’t see it, his glare is justified and Keith will feel his anger radiating off of him.  Keith sighs and grabs Lance, he fought against the blind guy’s grasp. He tries to wiggle out of it, he likes cuddling don’t get him wrong, but not when he’s mad.

Keith grunts in frustration and finally got Lance to move, putting Lance on his lap and adjusts on the couch.  Lance’s anger suddenly turned into embarrassment. Keith reaches down to Lance’s legs and found which ankle was messed up.  He found it when Lance yelps and moved his leg away.

“Knock it off!”  Lance snaps at him, Keith raised a brow at him and grabs his ankle.  Lance flinched in pain, but of course Keith has a death grip. After Lance relaxed his leg, he felt Keith’s grip lighten and massage his ankle.  Lance felt a lot of pain being massaged away, he lets out a breath.

He leans against him and lets Keith continue, probably the nicest thing Keith has done in a while.

“I think you should go to the doctor.”  Keith says, Lance looks at him and let out a breathy chuckle.

“Heh, where are you looking Sweetie?”  He asks, Keith cocks his head to the side in confusion.  Lance nudges Keith’s cheek with his own face. “I’m over here.”

“I know.”  Keith says.

“But you’re looking at the window.”

“Yeah, I am.  It looks great.”  He says sarcastically.  Lance buries his face in Keith’s neck and laughs.  “You are not funny.”

“Yes I am.”  Lance says. “Allura, am I funny?”

“I refuse to be apart of your lovers quarrel.  I am only interested in beating this bloody game.”  She answers as she starts again. Lance looks at Keith again, instead of continuing he nuzzles into him again.  However he flinched when Keith applied more pressure to his ankle.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, right here?”  He asks, applying more pressure.  Lance flinched and nods, Keith felt that and continues to massage it the best he could.  It wasn’t getting better. “Damn Lance, have someone take you to the hospital.”

“It’s not ba-AH!  Ow ow ow!” He whimpers.  Keith sighs.

“You need this thing checked over.”  He scolds, Lance gave Keith a sad puppy face, it wasn’t working.  Cause that trick only works if you look at his face. He whimpers, making Keith feel bad.  He didn’t. He just continued to massage it, Lance needs to find a weakness.

Keith can’t fall for the puppy eyes, and making little sounds doesn’t seem to work.  Lance has no clue how to make Keith go easy on him, which isn’t fair since Keith is too fucking cute and makes Lance weak.  

He just gives up and leans against his soulmate, he’ll find out how to make Keith weak for him.  Besides Keith was tending to him, helping his ankle and he gets to cuddle into him. So he’ll put up with that frustration for cuddles.

Another fail at the bop-it made both Keith and Lance jump slightly.  Allura groans in anger.

“I cannot play a game to save my life.”  She huffs and puts it down, only to pick it back up and try again.  Keith really should remind her what his high score was. She has gotten close, but not to it.

The three go back to doing what they were doing before.  Hunk and Pidge walk in with three bags full of food and a drink tray.

“Okay, we got pasta~”  Hunk sings. Lance waves them over.  They walk towards the group and hands out everything.

“Allura with her fettuccine, also a dr.p.”  Pidge says.

“Who calls it that?”  Allura asks while taking her soda.

“Lance’s ravioli with a cherry vanilla.”  Hunk says. “I can’t believe they had it.”

“Hunk, oh I could kiss you!”  He takes his stuff and opens it up.

“And I got my lasagna.”  Hunk said. Pidge pats Keith’s leg, he faces her.

“For you, penne ravioli mix.”

“Yay!”

“And your coke.”

“You are an angel Pidge.”  Keith says. Pidge sat next to Lance and began to eat her food.

“Spagett!”

“We like spagett!”  Lance started, then shrieks when Cosmo got close to his food.  “No, I am not sharing!”

“Be nice to my dog.”  Keith said and gave Cosmo a ravioli piece.  Everyone just gave him a look and went back to eating.  Soon enough only Hunk and Keith were the only ones who finished.  Everyone else puts it on the counter as leftovers. They went back to watching videos.

Pidge looks over and noticed Keith and Lance, more like what they were doing.  Keith was massaging his ankle while Lance was fast asleep in the crook of his neck.  Pidge smiles, glad to know that Lance isn’t really hiding it as much anymore. Either that or he’s more comfortable around Keith, but he’s trusting someone.

Shiro walks in and sees the group all lazily watching TV and doing absolutely nothing.  Pidge sees him and waves.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“We’re watching videos.”  Allura said. “Also I have Cosmo, he loves me more.”

“Bullshit.”  Keith argues.  Allura pats Cosmo’s sleepy head and smiles, then watches the TV again.  Shiro noticed that both Hunk and Lance were asleep. Shiro woke Hunk up, the large lad panics and got into fight or flight, and knowing Hunk, it was without a doubt flight.  He looks at Shiro with wide eyes.

“As much as I love you guys, you are not sleeping in my house.”

“O-Oh… heh, sorry about that.”  He says. He got up, Pidge follows.  Allura hugs Cosmo and stood with them.

“We’re leaving.”  Pidge said. Keith heard that and lightly shook Lance awake.  He mumbles in his sleep and curls into him more. Keith continued to shake Lance until he fully woke up.

“What?”  He asks annoyed, Keith chuckles.

“Rise and shine, time for you to go home.”  He says, Lance makes a low noise in his throat and got up.  Keith follows. “I’ll walk them out Shiro.”

“Okay.”  Shiro calls from the bathroom.  Keith follows Lance out and walks down the stairs.  Lance was limping down, his leg still hurts. Keith could hear his uneven steps and spoke up.

“Look, I know you want to ignore it and all… but I really think you should get it checked out.”

“Why?  I can just walk it off.”

“Well one, I feel bad.  It’s my fault you got hurt.”

“No it’s-”

“Yes it is.”  Keith interrupts him.  “But I want you to at least see a doctor.”

“Why?  Answer me that.”

“Why… because I care about you, obviously.”  Keith answers. Lance felt his heart skip a beat.  He tried to calm himself down. Only friends, only friends.  “It’s your choice, but I’d feel better if you went and got it checked.  Also, if you need anything to be paid for, I-I can get it for you.” He stutters a bit.

“I’m glad that you care about me, but trust me, I’m fine.”  Lance says, Keith gave a defeated look. Lance hated that look, it makes him feel guilty.  Keith was only trying to be nice. They made it downstairs to the entrance. Keith grabs Lance and pulls him in for a hug, too much too much!

“Night.”

“N-Night.”  Lance pulls away.  “ _ Te amo, mi bebé~ _ ”

“Yeah yeah.”  Keith smiles at him.  “Talk to you guys later.”

“Bye Keith!”  Pidge shouts from the truck.

“I’ll text you, no miss-spells I promise!”  Allura calls. Lance walks in and sat in the backseat with Allura.  Lance thought about Keith’s request while he watched the colorful scenery go by.  The only one in the truck who knows how colorful the world really is. It still kind of hurts his eyes.

“I knew your leg was messed up.”  Pidge sassed from the front seat. Lance stuck his tongue out.

“I’m still wearing an ankle brace at least.”  He said, all his friends gave him the same judgemental look.  He hates it, even Hunk, even his best friend has turned against him.  His friends hate him, he’s surrounded by hate. He decides to ignore them and watch outside, Allura leans on him and watches out his window.  Meanwhile Pidge and Hunk talk about their upcoming thanksgiving break.

* * *

_ Hunkyboi: what do you mean you’re busy?  You’re never busy! _

Lance groans and responds.

_ ‘I’m sorry my sweet sunshine.  I promise to hang some other time, you deserve all the time in the world.’ _

_ Hunkyboi: on second thought, i dont want to hang with you.  Suffer. _

_ ‘Ouch.’ _

_ Hunkyboi: what are you doing today anyways? _

_ ‘Nothing, just out doing things.’ _

“Lance Serrano?”  A man calls from the door, Lance looks up from his phone.  He puts his phone in his pocket and walks into the doctors office.  He follows the male nurse to the room and got his height and weight down.

“Alright… 6’ and 166 lbs.”  He says. “Blood pressure normal, no fever.”  He got a small scope out and looks in Lance’s eyes.  “Sight, color. Alrighty then.” He types it all out and walks out.  “The doctor will be here in a moment.”

“Kay.”  Lance nods, the nurse walks out.  He pulls his phone out and plays a game.  His sister texts him.

_ 4minolder: Are you done? _

_ ‘I just got in’ _

_ 4minolder: fuck.  Hurry up. _

_ ‘no me apresures.’ _

He went back to playing his crappy phone game, he was there for a good twenty minutes till someone came in.

“Hello, names Blaytz, I’ll be your doctor.”

“Hello, names Lance, I’ll be your patient.”

“I can tell by that response that we’ll get along just fine.”  Blaytz said. Lance smiles and puts his phone in his pocket. “So what brings you here?”

“Well… funny story…”  Lance says. He tells the doctor everything, Blaytz nods while he types it all down.

“So you twisted your ankle in a haunted house?”  He asks. “The one in town?”

“Yeah.”  Lance nods.

“God, my husband was right, that place is too dark.”  He says. “You can’t walk on it?”

“I can, but not well.  It’s painful.” Lance says, Blaytz got up and walks towards his leg.  He pushes on his ankle, causing Lance to yet again, yelp like crazy. “God first Keith and now you!”

“Sorry.  Scale of one to ten, how painful?”

“About an eight.”  Blaytz presses onto it again.  “TEN TENTENTEN!”

“Okay.”  Blaytz types it down.  “Okay, let’s get an x-ray.”  The doctor walks out, preparing Lance’s x-ray.

* * *

“What?!”  Lance asks in shock.

“Grade two sprain.”  Blaytz said. “It’ll take a few weeks for it to heal, most is twelve.”

“Twelve weeks?!”  Lance asks. “No no no, no no no no no.  I have a performance to do! I’m one of the captains of my school's dance team!  I-I can’t just sit out!”

“Well you have to.”  He says. “Here’s your prescription.  Any pharmacy you recommend?”

“Uh, the one on Court Street?”  Lance said like a question. Blaytz nods and sends it to the pharmacy.

“Alright.  Take those pills twice a day, one in the morning and one at night.  Also take some pain killers if the pain becomes unbearable. Ice can help as well.  Also no dance.” He prints out an excuse. “Give this to your coach.”

“Okay, thank you.”  He says, a friendly goodbye and Lance walks out, perfectly content.  He calls Rachel to tell her how it went down.

“Hey lil bro, you done?”  As soon as she spoke Lance broke.

“I can’t dance!”

“Huh?”  Rachel was taken aback.  Lance was a mixture of sad, upset, and enraged.

“I can’t dance!  I can’t help practice the new routine, and dance for twelve weeks, twelve fucking weeks!”  He screams. “Oh my God I’m gonna cry…” He mutters into his hand, then sees two people looking at him.  “What are you looking at?!” He snaps, they ran away.

“Lance, calm down.”

“No.”  He cries.  “I can’t do what I love most!”

“I know.  Look I’m coming to get you.  You have any meds?”

“Yeah.”  Lance nods.  “Just hurry.”  He says then hung up.  He texts his friends his misery.  How he needs to get medication, how he can’t dance, how his life was practically over.  He hates his life, hates everything.

* * *

Keith clips on Cosmo’s leash and walks out, taping forward.  Cosmo goes and the two walk downt.

* * *

“I can’t believe that I tripped once and suddenly my life is ruined.”

“Oh calm down, ya big baby.”  Rachel snaps. “I know you’ve been looking forward to this routine for competitions, trust me, I understand.”  She says. “But things happen, life happens.”

“Life hates me.  It bends me over and fucks me hard, not in a good way at all.”

“Okay bro, lighten up on the analogies.”  She says in a rather disgusted voice. Lance kept pouting in his seat, he was so pissed off.  Pissed at his ankle and pissed at himself for getting himself hurt.

They pull up to the small pharmacy, Rachel recognizes a certain someone with a large dog.  Listening to music and minding his own business.

“Keith?”  She asks, Lance looks up and low and behold Keith was sitting right there.  Lance got out and walks over to him, he nudges Keith’s leg. He takes his headphones out to see who it was to get his attention.

“Keith, what are you doing here?”  Lance asks. Keith stood up and digs through his bag.  “Keith, don’t ignore me. I’m already in a bad mood so don’t make it wo-”  Keith takes out a small paper bag and hands it to Lance. He paused and takes the bag, takes it out and sees his prescription.

“My meds…?  How did you get this?!”

“I asked for your name, said I was getting it for you.”  He said matter-of-factly. Lance just gave him an ‘are you serious’ face.

“But I didn’t ask you to!”

“I know.”  Keith said, he got up and got Cosmo to lead him home.  “See ya later.”

“Wait!”  Lance stumbles after him, damn his ankle.  “Why did you get this for me?!” He asks, obviously frustrated.  Keith just shrugs, that made Lance even more frustrated. “What does that mean?”

“A shrug?  It means I don’t have a-”

“I know what a shrug means Keith!  I mean what do you mean ‘I don’t know’?”

“Oh… I said I’d help.”  Keith said. “That’s all.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”  Keith nods.  “I have to take care of you, don’t I?”  He asks, Lance had no idea how to respond to that.  Keith sees them as friends, so why is he talking like this?  Why is he being so attentive to him all of a sudden? Keith shows his face, giving Lance a bright smile.

“I know you’re upset, but trust me, it’s not the end of the world.”  He says. “I’ll call you later to check on you, okay?” No response. “See ya.”  He walks off, Cosmo leading him home. Rachel walks up, thinking it was kind of rude of him to not acknowledge her.  But he’s Lance’s friend, not hers.

“Man, he knows you have a soulmate right?”  She asks, Lance continued to stare at him. “I think you should ditch your ass of a soulmate and get with Keith, he treats you right at least.”  She comments. Lance screams in the paper bag, full on confusion.


	18. Rouge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY! I hate updating so late but this time I had so much on my plate, I couldn't find the time or energy to write. I even passed out due to fatigue, no joke. I'm glad I got it done, it's not my best work (I know I say that every chapter), but it was the best I could come up with. Shout out to my friend who helped me out on this chapter.  
> I promise I'll never take this long again.

Lance kept staring at the bottle of pills, lost in his own thoughts.  A knock from his door pulls him out, looking right at Veronica, who was leaning against the door in her usual sassy way.  Lance goes back to looking at the bottle and stares at all the tiny green pills. She walks over and sat on the side of his bed.

“Wanna talk?”

“Nothing to talk about.”

“Rachel told me what the doctor said.”  She said, still nothing. “And what happened at the pharmacy.”  That got a reaction, one of Lance falling onto his pillow and looking at the ceiling annoyed.  “What kind of relationship do you have with this Keith guy?”

“I don’t know anymore.”  He says.

“I remember when you wouldn’t shut up about him, everyday it was about him.  I almost feel like I know him personally myself.” Veronica says.

“You’d be surprised.  I know him yet I can never seem to get a read on who he truly is.”  He sat up and puts the bottle down. “Right when I feel like I got it down, something changes.”  He feels himself getting angry again. “I don’t get him at all…”

“Lance.”  Veronica rubs her baby brother’s back, trying to keep him calm.  “Deep breaths now, you’ve been angry enough today.” She heard him inhale and exhale, and repeat.

“I just want to know why he’s like that.  Why he always changes personalities, especially around me.”  Lance pokes the bottle, looking at it with sadness. Stupid bottle reminding him that he can’t dance, and that Keith is suddenly jumping from hating Lance’s guts to suddenly caring about him.

Veronica leans back against him, he doesn’t push her away.  He wouldn’t even look at her. Just kept messing with the pill bottle.

“Well… looks like we’re not alone.”  She says, Lance looks over at the door and sees Marco staring at them.  He was standing there listening to their conversation. Veronica gave her little brother a “Serrano smirk” while Lance was wondering why his brother was there.

He didn’t move, he just stood there, looking at his siblings.  The three stayed silent for a while. Lance can’t stand the silence and went back to looking at the bottle nestled into his blanket.

“Lance?”  Marco got his attention, he looks at his older brother.  “I know Keith is important to you and all, but maybe you should talk to him instead of wondering why he’s so different.”  He says. Both Lance and Veronica stare at him, he could feel the awkward aura. “Sorry, I know you don’t like it when people help you, you don’t have to listen to me.  I’m just telling you what I’d do.”

He walks away, Veronica watching him leave.  She got up, giving Lance one last pat on the head, and follows her other brother to talk to him.  Lance looks at the pill bottle, thinking about his soulmate.

He sighs and lays back down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.  He wanted to know why Keith was like that, why he loved him regardless.  He loved Keith more than anything, and wishes Keith felt the same way. But instead he got a confusing mess of emotions, making his fucking head spin.

He closes his eyes and rests for a moment, cause why not.  Not like he can do anything.

* * *

Keith was listening to music while laying on his bed, curled up in his hoodie.  Cosmo was resting on the foot of his bed, content with his life. His owner was safe and comfortable, and that’s all that matters.  Shiro walks in and sees his brother being lazy. He chuckles, making his presence known. Keith’s head goes up and faces the door, signaling Shiro that he’s aware.  Shiro smiles and walks in.

“And how’s my adorable little brother today?”

“Call me adorable again and we’ll see how well that ends for you.”  Keith warns, Shiro held his hands up as to say “okay okay”, but Keith’s answer was silence.  He smirks at his silent victory and flops back down on his bed, snuggling into the hoodie.

“So what did you do today?  When I came to get my lunch you were gone.”  Shiro said as he walks out into the main room, Keith got up and followed him, Cosmo close behind.

“I went out.”  Keith said. “Lance went to the doctor today.”  That made Shiro pause.

“Is everything okay?”

“He hurt his ankle.”  Keith says as he sat in the chair, Cosmo putting his head on the arm of it, looking at Keith with soulful eyes.  Didn’t do much since Keith can’t see them, but he knew his dog wanted to be pet.

“When did that happen?  Was it during practice?”  Shiro asks, Keith felt the wave of guilt come in.  He tilts his head down and slowly pets Cosmo.

“No… It was at the haunted house.”  Keith said. “I lost him and… he… got hurt…”  He grew more and more quiet as the sentence went on.  Shiro just stares at him.

“So what?  Did he trip?”

“I assume so.  According to him the room was dark, I couldn’t see any sort of light so it was pretty dark.”

“Well, accidents happen.”  Shiro sounded too calm about it, like everyone else.

“A-Anyways, turns out he sprained it real bad.  He’s really upset about it, can’t dance for weeks, and competitions are coming up soon.”  He tells Shiro. “I decided since I was kind of at fault for it… I went to get his medication for him.”  Keith says, Shiro just stares at him. It was oddly quiet for a few minutes.

“Keith, it was an accident.”

“Huh?”

“No one is at fault, accidents happen.  Lance just happens to be the result of an unfortunate accident.”

“But I left him in there.  We had a buddy system going and I kept pushing him away.”  He says. “I let my fears control me to the point of hurting him.”  Keith rubs Cosmo’s ear between his fingers, trying to keep himself from breaking.  “So I decided to help him out, as a way of apologizing. But even if I help, it isn’t going to fix his ankle fast enough.  He can’t do the one thing he loves…”

Shiro walks in and sat on the couch, holding a plate of macaroni.  He turns the TV on and began to channel surf.

“Keith, does Lance blame you?”

“I don’t know.  So far he hasn’t told me.  He keeps playing it off as it being “fine”.  But I’m sure he blames me now.”

“Maybe he does, but at least you’re trying to make it up to him.”  Shiro says. Keith began to panic.

“Oh God what if he hates me now?”  He asks. “Shiro do you think he’ll cut me off?  I don’t want that! I’m trying to get better at this whole soulmate thing, I really am!  Oh God he’s gonna try and cut ties with me! I’ve hurt him and now he hates me forever!” While Keith panics, Shiro found a channel and decides to ignore him.  Let’s him suffer, and he did, all night.

* * *

Keith was comfortably sitting down in the living room, relaxing on a nice, cool, Sunday.  Until a loud knock came at the door. Before he could get up and get it, Pidge runs in and tackles him down.  Keith shrieks.

“Pidge?!  What are you doing?!”

“Do I need an excuse to barge in?”

“True.”  As he answered Allura runs in and dog piles on them as well.  Both girls giggle while Keith was laying there uncomfortably. “And you invited Allura… great.”  Cosmo joins them next. “Oh come on!”

“Hi Keith.”  Allura says in a fit of giggles.

“You are all so lucky I love you…”  He grunts out. “Where’s the other misfits.”

“Oh, they’re at church.”  Allura said. “So we came to bother you and told them to meet us later.”

“Of course.”  Keith sighs and faces away from them so he could breath.  Pidge, Allura, and Cosmo all got off and sat around with him.  “So how are you guys?”

“Oh Pidge was talking about her upcoming reading test and how she’s super nervous.”

“I suck at reading.”  Pidge says.

“So do I.”  Keith says with a smirk.

“Don’t make me beat your ass.”  She threatens, he kept his smirk.  Allura got up, and walked to the kitchen.

“Do you have anything to drink?”  She asks Keith.

“Yeah, some coke and fruit flavored soda.  Take the fruit soda, get them out of my cokes.”  He tells her. She opens the fridge and sees the soda in one section and raised a brow.

“Why are they scattered about?”

“Shiro thinks he’s funny.”  Keith hisses, she giggles quietly and grabs a fruit flavored soda.  Cracks it open and walks back to the living room. They turn the TV on and went through the channels.  Allura walks into Keith’s room and comes back with the bop-it. She started playing again, wanting the high score.

Good luck, Keith’s score is 193.  She was determined to beat his score.  Cosmo walked over to sit next to her, wrapping his tail around her.  While she played the other two talked about school. Pidge laying on top of Keith while she talked about her problems.

“And the book is lame, I don’t understand it.  The dumbest thing is trying to write down some philosophical bullshit.”  She says. Keith pats her head pathetically, she knew he didn’t really feel bad.  But he’s her best friend, thus he has to listens to her.

“There there, it’s okay.”  He says dryly. They hear the bop-it make the **AW** noise again.  Allura groans and starts again, she refuses to give up.  Pidge and Keith went back to talking.

“Can you help me with my project?”

“How am I gonna help?”  He asks in complete confusion.  Cause seriously, how is he gonna help?  She pouts at him, he gave her his usual blank stare.  “You know pouting doesn’t work on me.”

“Damn you, you blind bitch.”

“Annoying shit.”

“Cock sucker.”

“Little fucker.”  The two start to chuckle.  Their lovely insults full of love.  She hugs him tightly around his neck and snuggles into him.  He hugs her back and nuzzles into her hair, loving the feeling of her soft hair in his face.

While they snuggled the door opened and Hunk walks in.

“Yo.  What’s up?”

“Hi.”  Pidge waves.  “Keith and I are snuggling, while Allura is-”  The **AW** comes back.  “-that.”

“So the usual?”  Hunk asks.

“Pretty much.”

“Cool.”  Hunk walks in and sat down on the chair.  Keith tries to face Hunk’s direction.

“Where’s Lance?”  He asks.

“Hm?”  Hunk looks at him.  “Lance is still at church, he goes to a very strict church where they stay for hours.”  He says. “He should be done by now.”

“Yeah _loverboy_ , your man will be here soon enough.”  Pidge teases.

“L-Loverboy?!”  Before he could argue an out of breath Lance walks in.  He pants and fell on the ground next to Allura, who paid no mind to him.  Everyone who could see just stares at him.

“Lance?  You okay?”  Hunk asks.

“I walked here.”

“Oh, cause that’s good for your leg.”  Pidge sassed. Lance pouts at her.

“I couldn’t help it.  Rachel called the car today…”  He whines and leans against Allura, watching her play bop-it.  

“You two need seperate cars.”  Hunk points out.

“Twin law, we share everything.  Even clothes.”

“Weird law.”  Pidge says.

“By the way, what are you two doing?”  Lance asks with slight confusion.

“Snuggling.”

“Ah.”  He looks at Allura, who was in the zone.  He messes with the “pull it” option, causing her to lose.  Her shriek was worth it. Though he could do without the hitting.  He fights back pathetically, she pushes him, rewarded with a yelp.

He pouts at her and crawls to Hunk.  The larger lad lets his best friend sit in his lap, Lance hugging him and giving his other friends the stink eye.  Pidge got out of Keith’s grasp and walks around the apartment, looking through everything.

She pulls out all of the games Matt and Shiro use to play.

“Let’s see… hippos, uno, life, monopoly, oh!”  She pulls out a huge black box, a color everyone sees.  She wore a big grin on her face, rushing over and kicking the bop-it out of Allura’s hands.  Earning her a terrified shriek from the other girl.

“Put that shit down, we’re playing this!”

“What is it?”  Allura asks while looking at the box.

“It’s cards against humanity.  It’s hilarious!”

“It is?”  She asks, Lance crawls over and took the box from Pidge.

“Oh I love this game, mi Abuela never lets me play it.”  Lance says, Hunk got on the floor as well.

“Are we gonna play?”

“Oh joy, without me…”  Keith says as he continues to lay on the couch.  Pidge thought for a moment.

“How about Keith and Allura be the card czars for the entire time, while us three compete.  Keith and Allura pick which ones are funnier, one with the most cards wins.”

“Why both Keith and I?”  Allura asks.

“Cause someone needs to read the cards out loud, seeing as how Keith can’t do it.”  Pidge says. Keith faces them with a look of belonging. He gets to play? And he’s the one who decides who’s the best.  He crawls down and finds Allura. He can tell his friends apart by touch now. Allura has very soft skin and is dainty in shape, once he finds his fluffy friend he sat next to her, Cosmo right in between them.

The other three sit together and Pidge shuffled the deck.  She gives her, Lance, and Hunk all cards. She pushes the black cards in front of Keith and Allura.  Allura takes a card and reads it out loud.

“Blank.  That’s how I want to die.”  Allura says. Keith cocks his head to the side.  The three look through their cards and put one down.

“I got junk.”  Lance said. Allura takes them and held the cards between her and Keith, like he can read it, leaning against him as she read them.

“Sniffing glue.  That’s how I want to die.”  She starts, Keith starts to smile.  Allura kept going. “An endless stream of diarrhea.  That’s how I want to die. Gross!” And they lost Keith.  “Doin it in the butt. That’s how I want to- Why are these so vulgar?!”  She asks, Keith was wheezing, as well as everyone else.

“What is this game?!”

“That’s the name of the game.  Cards against humanity is a game with no boundaries.  Now pick the funniest one.”

“I will not.  These are all horri-”

“Doin it in the butt.”  Keith says. Hunk smiles and takes it.  Allura was now shocked that Hunk was the one who put that down.  She sighs and picks up the next card.

“What will always get you laid?  I don’t trust any of you.” She says.  The three look through then puts them down.  Allura reads them again. “Crucifixion…” That got everyone to laugh.  “Black people, whoever put this one down… you think you’re funny.” Last one.  “Poor life choices.”

Everyone was laughing now, no one could breath.  Keith had to pick.

“Crucifixion.”  He managed to say.  Pidge cheers and grabs the card.  Lance looks at them.

“I feel betrayed.”  He says. Allura rolls her eyes while reading the next card.

“Blank.  Kid tested, mother approved.”  They all put their cards down. “Miley Cyrus at age 55.  Kid tested, mother approved.” She says, giving a disgusted look.  She grabs the next card. “Incest. Who the hell put this one down?!”

“Read the last one.”  Pidge said through her laughter.

“Leprosy.  Kid tested, mother approved.”

“Incest.”  Keith says without skipping a beat.

“Aw yeah!”  Pidge takes it.  Allura shakes her head, this was awful.

“Blank.  Betcha can’t have just one.”  She says. “This isn’t gonna end well.”  She reads the cards placed down. “Sideboob.  Betcha can’t have just one.” This game caused too much loud laughter.  She continues. “Kamikaze pilots… yeah about three of them fell at a time.”  She says as she picks up the next card. “Children with leashes.”

“And we have a winner.”  Keith said about the leashes.  Lance finally sighs in relief, he got a card.

The group continued to play the entire time.  In the end Shiro walks in and sees them all playing his game.

“What are you all doing?”

“Playing this God forsaken game.”  Allura hisses, everyone else giggles like children.

“Who’s winning?”

“Pidge, she’s a cheater.”  Lance says, Pidge stuck her tongue out.  Keith smiles in the general direction of his brother, Shiro sighs but smiles at Keith.  He walks over and ruffles his hair.

“I see you kept your hood down.”

“Heh, I forgot I didn’t have one.  But it’s okay, it’s just these guys.”  Keith says with a smile. Everyone smiles back, almost everyone.  Lance just gave a rather defeated look. He was trying to prove himself, but no matter how hard he tried, Keith will never see him as anything more.  

“Well it is a school night, so you all should head home and get ready for tomorrow.”  He says, sounding too much like a dad.

“But Shiro, I don’t want to read.”  Pidge whines. “I hate reading books.”

“Too bad.”  He nudges her with his foot.  She whines and got up, everyone said their goodbyes and left the apartment to head home, again, almost everyone.  Lance puts his phone down and groans.

“Luis is coming to get me in a few seconds.  Is it cool that I chill here while I wait?” He asks Shiro.

“Sure.”  He says. Lance smiles at him and sits in the chair, waiting for his older brother to pick him up.  “So how’s the leg?” He asks, Lance looks at him then at his ankle.

“Oh, it’s… still in pain I guess.”  He says. “I’m more upset about the fact that I can’t dance while I’m like this.”

“I know.  Keith told me.  You should’ve seen him yesterday, he was freaking out, thinking you hated him and all that.”  Shiro chuckles. Lance gave a rather hurt look, Shiro noticed it immediately. “B-But I’m sure he’s overreacting.  You know how Keith gets.”

“No, I don’t.”  Lance snaps. “I don’t know anything about Keith.  In fact, I know nothing. And trust me, that pisses me off.  I want to know what I did that makes him hate me so much!” Lance stood up.  “It’s not my fault I’m his soulmate! I didn’t ask the universe to put us together, that’s just how it is!”  He shook his head. “Forget this, I’ll wait outside.”

“No, that’ll mess with your ankle.”  Shiro tried stopping him. Lance shot him a glare.

“So what?  Not like it can get much worse.”  He walks out the door and down the stairs to wait for his brother.  Shiro watched him leave, then puts his head on the counter and lets out a stressed out groan.  He looks at Keith’s door, slightly open. He walks over and peaks inside.

He sees his brother leaning against the door, Shiro walks in, causing Keith to move slightly.  He was hiding his face in his knees, trying to hide from the rest of the world. Shiro pulls his brother in and held him close, Keith sniffles a bit.  He buries his face in Shiro’s neck and whimpers.

“I don’t know what to do Shiro.”  He shakes out another sob. “I don’t know…”

* * *

Lance climbs into the minivan and glares at his brother.

“Twenty minutes?”

“I told you to wait inside.”  Luis said. “You were the dumbass who stayed out.”  He starts driving home.

“I got upset so I left.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Not your problem.”

“See?  That’s your issue Lance.  You don’t tell anyone what’s on your mind, no, instead you keep it to yourself and you let it bother you.”

“It’s not your problem.  Why do you all think I should tell you guys everything?”

“Cause we’re your family Lance!”  Luis snaps.

“So?  Family doesn’t share everything!”

“Jesus fucking christ kid, you haven’t even told us who your soulmate is!  Do you even trust us?”

“Of course I do!  But my problems are mine alone, and I will deal with them on my own!”  Lance snaps. “So forgive me for wanting to deal with _my own problems_.”  Lance sat back in his  seat and stares out the window, Luis clenches onto the steering wheel.  He was trying to let all that anger out. “I can tell you’re mad. If you’re that upset with me then kick me out of the car, I’ll walk home.”

“Not with that ankle, and I’m not that mad at you.  Just frustrated.”

“Is that why you were manhandling the steering wheel?”  He asks in his usual sassy voice. “I know I can be a pain Luis, but if I have to be honest… I don’t want to burden you all with my problems.”

Luis pauses and looks at his brother.

“I mean, Rachel and I are going to graduate soon, and I know Rachel is struggling to pass everything.  Marco is going through recovery, I know that’s a lot to deal with. Veronica has to deal with the pain of knowing her soulmate is overseas, and I know you and Lisa are having a hard time with keeping steady jobs so you can take your kids and live somewhere else.”

“Me?  I have no problems.  I’m keeping up with my classes, even signed for a few scholarships.  I don’t have your financial problem, my soulmate isn’t overseas, and I’m not a recovering addict.  My problems are not as important…”

“Sounds like you’re saying you aren’t important.”  Luis spoke softly. Lance didn’t look at him, he stares at the road below the car.

“I guess I am.”


	19. Lavender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been binge playing Harvest Moon while having writers block, it helped, but not a whole lot. Enjoy the chapter while I cry in a hole wondering what to type for the next chapter.

Lance looks through all the books at the library while Allura was reading one she randomly picked out, Hunk’s bakery club got invited to see a new bakery that opened in town so he was gone all morning.  So the two hung out, dicking around in the library cause they don’t know where to go. Lance looks at a cover, puts it back, takes another one, puts it back, rinse and repeat.

Allura watches him do that and got annoyed the fifth time he did it.

“Either pick one or just sit down.”  She says. Lance looks her dead in the face as he pulls one out and puts it back, she glares at him.  “You’re gonna get it Scrawny.” He smirks at her.

“So hows your classes?”  He asks as he sat next to her.

“Odd topic.”  She says as she closes the book and looks at him.  “But they’re going good I guess. I mean, advance classes are killing me.  But if I don’t do good then I might have to go back home and I don’t want that.”  She sounded so scared. Lance raised an eyebrow at her.

“That’s new.  When was that apart of the deal?”

“Oh…”  Allura looks down at the cover of the book and gave a rather weak smile.  “Well my father saw I had a C in my arts class. Coran and I wouldn’t hear the end of it.  I’ve been trying hard to get it up, but I can’t do it.” She clenches her hands together, Lance could tell she was fighting back tears.  “It’s not like math or science, where there is only one answer. In arts there’s multiple answers, many ways to express yourself, I can’t comprehend it.”

Lance began to chuckle, he sucks at math and science, he’s literally the opposite of Allura.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, it’s just I have such a hard time keeping myself on the honor roll because of the those classes.  Things like the arts seem so easy.”

“Well good for you.”  She pokes his head, he chuckles and looks at her with his usual big grin.

“If you want, I can help you.”

“You’d do that?”

“I’d do anything for my friends, keep that in mind.”  Lance lightly hits her head with the back of his hand.  Allura chuckles and nods.

* * *

Keith digs into his fast food paper bag to find all his goodies.  Kolivan worked his ass off today, he deserves a treat. He pulls out his chicken nuggets, medium fries, and a bag of cookies.  He finds his sauce packets and sets them on the cushion in front of him. Shiro would kill him if he saw Keith using the couch as a table, but Shiro isn’t home and Keith is using it how he pleases.

He finds the opening on the sauce packets and peels it open for him to dip his nuggets into, all while Cosmo whimpers and begs for food.  His phone goes off, he groans and digs it out of his backpack. Answering it while trying to eat, he wedges his phone between his shoulder and ear, he was so shocked to hear that he could do that this whole time.

“Hello?”

“Hey buddy.”

“Hunk?  What’s up?”  Keith asks while dipping a nugget.

“Nothing, just went to a bakery with my club today.  It’s so good!” Hunk sounded so happy. “But yeah I’m asking everyone what they wanted.  I texted them, but I thought it’d be better to call you to ask. Better than Siri trying to read everything.”

“Aw thanks Hunk, how thoughtful of you to actually call me.  You are officially better than everyone else.”

“Really?”  He asks happily.  “I am so telling Pidge that.”

“Go ahead.”  Keith says with a chuckle.  “But baked treats huh?”

“Yeah, they got a lot of treats.”  Hunk says while obviously looking around.  Keith takes a bite and gags at the taste.

“Son of a bitch, I wanted ranch.”  He grumbles at the sauce he got, he sniffs the packet.  Sweet & Sour. God dammit. He ignores the screw up by talking to Hunk.  “What kind of stuff do they got, I can’t exactly see what’s there.”

“Even if you were here you wouldn’t see.”  Hunk points out.

“Fight me.”

“I will, and I’ll win.  You’re blind, you can’t see, I win the argument.”

“Fuck you.”  They both started laughing.  Keith could hear Hunk humming and looking around.

“Damn, a lot of cookie options.  Chocolate chip, double and triple chocolate.  Mint, berry, monster…” He paused. “What the heck is a swirl bar?”  That made Keith’s eyes go wide.

“Swirl bar?!”

“Yeah…I’ve heard of peanut butter swirls, but not swirl bars…”

“Get me that, I want that!”

“Do you know what it is?”

“My mom use to make it for my siblings and I on our birthdays.  It was everyone’s favorite treat.” He stopped for a moment. “How did these people get the damn recipe?”

“What do you mean?”

“Mom was the one who created the swirl bar recipe.  Why do they have it…?”

“Well it might be different, want me to get it for you?”

“Hell yeah!  Miss my mommy’s treats.”  Keith says, wanting to know if it was his mom’s recipe.  He’s curious, and a little annoyed. He hopes one of his siblings owns the joint that makes them, or he’s gonna be rather curious about these treats.

Hunk says he would and the two hang up, now Keith has to eat cold chicken nuggets.  His phone went off a few seconds later, he answers.

“Excuse me, but Hunk is your best friend?!”

* * *

“And then you do that.”  Lance says while painting a pink petal.  Allura looks at it and pouts.

“How does that look good?  It’s all grey to me.”

“Well a lot of famous painters started out greyscale.  They actually knew all the colors just by their shade alone.  Once they saw color, it changed everything for them. Or so I’ve read.”

“Theater kid.”

“Rich nerd.”  He teases.

“But how did you paint that.  Your sketch here looks like absolute shit.”

“RUDE!”

“But your painting is beautiful.”  She says while looking at Lance’s work.  “Even in grey.”

“Well I can see color, for one.”  He tells her. “But also, I was always good at painting.  When I lived in Cuba, my sister and I had a lot of freetime, so we painted.  We painted the ocean and the sand, though Rachel is way better at it.” He looks over at the self portrait of her, Marco and Veronica smiling at the camera, it was a selfie she took.

“You came from a different country?”  Allura asks, Lance nods.

“Yeah, that’s why I can understand where you’re coming from.”  He says. “Trust me, I don’t understand these Americans half the time.”  That caused Allura to laugh.

“Glad to know someone understands.”  She says through giggles, then looks back at the canvas.  “Now my turn to paint. Is this pink?”

“Orange.”

“Fuck.  This is gonna be harder than I thought.”  She began to paint, hoping it’ll look as good as Lance’s.  They stayed till Lance got a text from his sister telling him it was time to go home, practice was over.  He gave his phone a cold stare as he got up, Allura looks right at him. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything is fine.”  Lance says as he walks out slowly.  “See you later Princess.”

“Y-Yeah… goodnight Lance, and thanks again.”  She says as he waves. Getting to the gym and meeting his sweaty sister who was with some of the other girls on their team.  They haven’t seen Lance in a while and greeted him with smiles.

Lance played being happy to not look like an angry ass, but deep down he was extremely upset still.  Last year and he doesn’t get to dance at all, fuck his life. Rachel got up and slings her bag over her shoulder, their friends follow as they walk out.  Lance listened to their conversation.

Apparently one girl was thinking of finding her soulmate through all the boys sending photos of their eyes.  That got Lance to laugh, because that won’t work.

“What do you mean “it won’t work”?”  She asks, he smirks.

“It just won’t.”  Lance says, watching Rachel fish for their car keys.

“Listen to Lance, he actually found his soulmate the old fashioned way.  Though his soulmate is a  _ huge asshole _ .”  She hisses.  Lance rolls his eyes.

“He’s not an asshole, just… hard to understand.”

“Bullshit, he made you cry and feel unwanted.”  She said, Lance didn’t say anything, cause arguing with Rachel was like arguing with a wall.  You aren’t going to get anywhere.

Hunk ran up to him with a bag in hand.

“Found you!”

“What’s up buddy?”  Lance asks, all the girls staring at his larger friend.

“Got your little chocolate cake.”

“Oh!”  Lance took the bag and smiles.  “Thank you~ It looks sooooo good!”  He sways from side to side all happily.

“Glad you like it, now on to delivering treats.  Have to give Pidge her peanut butter cookie. Also I gave Allura her sakuramochi and Coran wanted some sort of bun, weird…”  He trails off. “Also I need to go to Keith’s place and give him his swirlbar-”

“Swirl what now?!”  Plax jumps on Lance’s shoulders and clings to his back to look at Hunk, the larger boy stands back.

“Uh… Swirlbar?”

“Swirlbar?!”  She sounded so happy.  “My Mommy makes those for us!  I need to go to this bakery now.  I am so telling everyone.” She pulls out her phone to text her other siblings.  Lance gave her a confused look but looks back at Hunk.

“So um… you going to Keith’s place?”

“Yeah, just to drop stuff off, unless you plan on going over.”

“Oh, I’m going ho-”

“He is soooo going.”  Rachel said as she nudges her brother’s hip.  He gave Rachel a look.

“What?!”

“You’re going to see Keith.”  She says with a smirk. She leans over and whispers to him.  “Come on, I know you want to. You  _ love  _ to see your baby~”

“Rachel!”  He snaps, face pure red, she laughs.

“God you got a shade darker.”  She says. “I’m only teasing. Go on ahead and go.  I’ll tell  _ Mamá  _ you’re going out.  Go on, shoo shoo.” Rachel waves her hand as to say go.  Lance groans.

“Fine.  Night girls.”  They all said night and Lance went into Hunk’s truck.  The two drove off into the city. Finally reaching the apartment after an awkward car ride, Hunk casually walks out, Lance looks down.  He carefully steps out, not wanting to ruin his ankle even more, and follows behind.

They made it up the fourteen out of fifteen floors in the damn building and walked in, only to be greeted by a large wolf.  Both boys laugh and pet Cosmo happily.

“Hey boy, where’s your dumb owner?”  Lance asks.

“And you wonder why I question our friendship.”  Keith teases from the living room. He and Pidge were watching TV together, well listening but they got the idea.  The two walk in and sat down next to them. “How are you two doing?” He asks, Cosmo claiming his spot next to Keith again.

“Tired, hating our lives, wanting death.  You?” Lance asks.

“Same.”  Keith says.  “This little shit had to come over and sort out our friendship issue.”

“You are my best friend,  **mine** .”  She says.  Keith chuckles and leans back against the couch.

“So what are you two doing?”

“Came to give you your treat.”  Hunk says, Keith faces him and smiles.  Keith held his hand out, Hunk puts the swirl bar in his hand.  The moment of truth. He takes a bite, then sighs.

“It’s close, but not quite the way my mom makes them.”

“You relieved?”  Hunk asks.

“Kind of.”  Keith says while finishing it.  “But I can taste some similarities.  Like it’s cookie dough like flavor.”

“It’s a cookie.  It’ll taste like cookie dough.”  Pidge points out.

“No, cookie dough and a cookie taste a little different.  But when my Mom bakes, it’s like it was never cooked. I wish I knew how she did it.”

“I’m sure you wish for a lot of things.”  Pidge says, then looks at everyone else. “But we should totally check it out!  This bakery sounds so amazing, and from what I tasted with those cookies, it’s a well worth trip!”

“We can go tomorrow, it closes real early for some reason.”  Hunk said.

“You need to take us!  Right Keith?”

“I’m not doing much tomorrow… sure.”

“Great, and we all know Allura is going to come along.”  She says. The boys nod and then went their separate ways, planning their little get together tomorrow.  Pidge leans against Keith and falls asleep.

He should’ve known she was going to spend the night.

* * *

“Why is it so cold today?”  Allura asks while wrapping her arms into her coat.

“Cause it’s almost winter.”  Lance says, she sticks her tongue out and continues to walk.  Pidge chuckles and grabs one of Allura’s arms.

“I’ll stand next to ya and warm ya up.”  She says in a teasing manner. Allura grabs her hand and the two girls walked close together trying to stay warm, didn’t work but they didn’t care.

Keith thought that idea was dumb but he had a wolf so his opinion didn’t matter.  Hunk leads the group to the bakery, they drove for a bit but had to walk because of traffic.  They thought walking would be faster, and it is, on the weekends.

“We almost there?”  Lance asks. “My ankle is beginning to give out.”

“Really?”  Allura asks, Lance nods.

“Yeah, it’s doing that a lot.”  He says, Pidge sighs.

“It’s the temp change, it’s messing with it.”

“Fucking hate this.”  He grumbles and kept up the best he could.

“Don’t worry, we’re almost there.”  Hunk says to his friend. They continue to walk down the sidewalk, dodging a lot of people.  Mainly kids and teens, a lot of them either staring or trying to stop Keith to pet Cosmo. This is one reason Keith doesn’t like going out, a lot of people love dogs.

They got close, they could see the crowd surrounding the bakery, wanting in.  It was a mess. Hunk gave a horrified look.

“Okay… didn’t think it’d be this busy.”

“Oh my.”  Allura says.  “Well it can’t be like this all day, let’s go somewhere else then come back.  It might die down.”

“You’re right.”  Hunk nods, the group walks around the crowd to find something else to do.  Keith struggles with people and Cosmo, damn weirdos and their love of seeing every dog they come across, go to a damn dog park!

He finally got through, with a lot of tugging, and sighs.  He faces Cosmo, giving a look of disapproval. Cosmo licks his face, that got Keith to chuckle.  He stood and fixed his hood, glad it was over.

“It can’t be… Keith!”  An unfamiliar voice calls, extremely happy to see him.  He jumps and tries his best to pinpoint where it came from.  Then someone full force launched at him, a smaller body clung to him.  “Keith Keith Keith!” It sounded like a girl.

“Uh…”  Keith just stood there, awkwardly.  His friends saw that and walked over.

“Hey Keith, who’s this?”  Lance asks. Keith shrugs, the girl looked so sad.

“You… don’t remember me?”  She asks. “I-I guess that makes sense… it’s been so long, and I’ve grown up a lot.”  She says. “It’s me, Florona.”

“Huh?”  Keith was wondering if he heard that right.  Little Florona remembers him? She was four when he left.  She smiles and cuddles to him.

“I’ve missed you so much.  Wondering when I was going to see you again.”  She says. Keith had no clue how to feel. He never got along with her either, but he couldn’t blame her.  She was a little girl who looked up to Plax more than anyone. So she of course copied her and her cruel behavior.  But just like her, she missed Keith.

He decided to give her a second chance, seeing as how she was so little when that all happened.  He lightly hugs her back.

“It’s good to see you too, Florona.”  He says, she gave him a big grin. One he couldn’t see, but he could tell she was smiling.  Then she looks over at her brother’s friends. They wave.

“Hello, we’re Keith’s friends.”  Allura started. “You are?” Florona’s curiosity turned into a sour pout, clinging tighter.

“I’m his sister.”  She says ‘as a matter of factly’.  The others were taken aback, why was she so rude?  They try to shrug it off and continue to walk. Keith follows, Florona clings to him and talks his ear off about their family and how everyone was doing.  Keith didn’t mind, he was kind of curious about everyone. They were his family after all.

Hunk had to take Cosmo since Keith was holding too much at the moment, with Florona clinging to his arm like life support.  Pidge’s grip tightened on Allura’s hand as she looks back, then forward.

“Who does she think she is?  They haven’t seen each other in years, now she acts like they’re still close.  Then treats us like villains. We’ve been with Keith longer.”

“It’s different with siblings.”  Lance points out. “Give her a break, she hasn’t seen her big brother in years, maybe she’s a little wary.”

“Sounds about right.”  Allura says. “I’d be the same way.”  Pidge just clicks her teeth in annoyance and the group went to the cafe and took their spot.  Florona follows, still stuck to Keith’s hip. They all sat down, except for Keith.

“I can buy this time.”  Keith says. “Got paid recently.”

“Paid?”  Lance asks.

“Government funding, can’t really get a normal job.”  He says with a rather sad smile. He thinks it’s lame but it’s the only way he gets money.  He doesn’t spend it too often, thinking it’s rather lame to spend it on luxuries like some people do with their disability checks.

“I know what you all like so it’s okay.”  He faces Florona. “What do you like?”

“You’ll get me something?”

“Of course.  What do you want?”  He asks. She runs up to the menu, reading everything, then running back up and pointing.

“Gingerbread hot chocolate!”  She says happily, Keith chuckles and nods.

“Got it, I’ll be back.”  He walks up, cane in hand and wallet in his hoodie pocket.  Florona pulls her phone out and began texting while the others look awkwardly at one another.  She was making this super awkward, mainly because they have no idea who the heck she is besides being Keith’s little sister.

They kept quiet, all of them whispering to one another, Pidge giving the occasional glare.  Florona looks over, giving a rather judgemental look. Damn, it reminds of them of Keith. How does that work?  She’s not even blood related to him! Do they just all pick up on the same behaviors? They wonder if that’s possible.

“So who are you guys?”  She asks in a sour attitude, Pidge was ready to smack this girl.  Who gave her the right to act this way?

“We’re Keith’s friends.”  She answers, Florona gave a rather unimpressed look.

“Really?”  She sounded like she wasn’t buying it.  They all looked at her with either confusion or anger.  Which was only Pidge.

“Yeah, really.”  She snaps. Florona just gave her a look.

“Well isn’t that nice.”  She hisses between her teeth and goes back to her phone, clearly angry.  Allura looks back at everyone, wanting someone to break the tension. She grabs Pidge and hugs her close, not wanting her to lunge at the girl.

“Uh.”  Hunk started.  Florona looks up with another sour look.  “If you don’t mind me asking, why-”

“I mind.”

“You don’t even know what he’s going to ask.”  Lance points out.

“I mind.”  She hisses.  “It’s you guys who took him away.”

“What?”  Allura asks.

“You took him away.”  She repeated herself. “You guys took my big brother away from me, from my family.”  Florona goes back to her phone.

“Excuse us, but we didn’t do anything.”  Lance says.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s people like you who took him away.”  She growls. “Everyone in the house was so sad when he left, Plax and I would sit and wait for him to come back, but that never happened!”  She sounded so upset, like she was about to cry.

They looked at her with a look of pity, besides Pidge, not knowing how to respond to her comment.  She sank back into the seat. Pidge lost it.

“So sorry we decided to become Keith’s friends!”  She snaps, causing Florona to glare. “You have no right to judge us and be a little shit!”  She continues to let out her rage, Allura holding her down well. “Us being with Keith was for the better, he’s opened up and even found his soulmate!”

That caused Florona’s look to go full on vicious.

“What?”

“You heard me!  Tell her Lance!”  Throw him under the bus.  Florona’s stare was on him, Lance never feared a girl so much in his life.  She looked like she was trying to murder him then and there.

“You.”  She growls.  “If you are trying to hurt him, I swear I will-”

“I’m back…”  Keith says. Clearly walking into something serious.  “We all okay?”

“Fine.”  Lance squeaks out.  Keith chuckles and sat down next to his sister again.

“Okay, grab yours.  I can’t tell.”

“We know.”  Pidge says as she grabs hers.  Florona grabs hers and Keith’s, handing her brother’s drink to him.  He takes it with a nod, she smiles and cuddles into him. Everyone wonders what was with her two faced attitude.

Pidge hates it, not liking how someone is acting so clingy and close.  Allura could tell it was jealousy. Pidge was always so close to Keith, so protective of him, now seeing someone close to her age being all cuddly to him.  Also snapping at Lance for something he couldn’t control, like she hates the idea of soulmates as much as Keith.

Pidge wanted this girl gone, but she won’t say it.  Cause Keith looks kind of happy to be with her, to hear her talking about their family.  Something none of his friends can give him, which hurts more.

“Also Lotor took us out, but Romelle was too scared to go in.  Causing Plax to get scared, so the whole group left Lotor alone.”  She says with a chuckle.

“We went to the same haunted house, it didn’t go well.”  He tells her.

“Was it fun?”

“Maybe you should go in yourself and experience it instead of chickening out on our brother.”

“Mean!”  She pouts, Keith chuckles and pats her head.

“Also asking your blind brother what he thought?  Well I thought it was kind of boring.”

“Heh, figured.”  She says and took a sip.

“By the way, who’s Romelle?”

“Oh yeah, she came in recently.  She’s our new sister. You should meet her sometime!  We all told her about all her new siblings, but she has been curious about you, seeing as how you’re the only one she hasn’t met.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“She’s your sister now too!”

“I know.”  Keith says and rubs her arms.  She smiles and cuddles to him. “Oh, also Mom and Dad told me you play bassoon.”  He says, she nods in excitement.

“I do!  We’re practicing for our winter concert!”  She says. “Wanna come? It’d be awesome for you to check it out and see how well we do.”

“I dunno.”

“Come on!”  She whines. “I have a solo!  I want you to hear my solo, please?”  She gave him big puppy eyes. Keith could feel them on him, he chuckles and took his phone out.  Handing it to her.

“Put it in here.”

“Really?”  She asks. “Can I put my number as well?”

“I guess.”  He says in a teasing manner.  She smiles and puts everything in.

“Will it remind you?”

“Yeah, it tells me everything, I’ll remember.”

“Yes!”  She hugs Keith happily and sat back down.  Everyone continued to stay quiet. Hunk spoke up.

“So, suppose that bakery is empty?”

“Don’t count on it.”  Florona says. “It’s really popular.  I was surprised I got out of there.” They all groan, not fair.  Their plan for the day was ruined. They continued to stay quiet while Keith kept catching up with Florona.  Allura and Pidge played a game on one of their phones. Lance was massaging his ankle, Hunk just fell asleep with Cosmo resting on his lap.

After two hours Florona got a call.  She puts it on speaker and answers.

“Hi Mom, guess who I’m with!”

“Where are you right now?”  She snaps, Florona giggles.

“I met someone!”

“Sorry Mom, she wouldn’t let me go.”  Keith responds. They could all hear her gasp.

“W-Where are you?”  Honerva asks, Florona didn’t know.  Allura spoke up.

“The Caramel Cafe.”

“Whoever that was, thanks.”  She says and hung up. A few minutes later she runs in and sees her daughter right away.  She runs over and points at her. “I told you to stay with Lotor’s friends.”

“But they were working.”  She pouts. “And I saw Keith.”

“I know.”  She looks at her son and walks over to him.  “How are you baby?” She asks while kissing his head, Keith smiles at her.

“I’m good.”  He says. She hugs her son and looks at all his friends.

“Sorry about this.  I’m sure you guys were all wanting to hang out in peace.  Florona tends to invite herself along to things.”

“Do not.”  She pouts.

“Oh yeah?”  Honerva gave a raised brow, God everyone has it!  Florona sighs and stood up, everyone follows her out, they wanted to go home as well.  Nothing much to do now. Lance smacks Hunk’s head to wake him up. The larger lad grunts and gave his friend a pissed look.  He follows them out.

Florona hugs Keith before she goes in the car.

“Nice to see you again.  Don’t be a stranger, yeah?”

“Never was a stranger.”  Keith says to her. “I promise I’ll stay in touch.”

“Kay.”  She nods.  Then looks back at his friends, with the same sour look, they were going to have to get use to that.  She points at Lance, then made a slicing motion at her neck. Lance stiffens, Pidge grabs Lance’s arm and glares at the girl.  No one threatens her friends.

Florona hops in happily, Honerva sighs, seeing that action.  She mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ then hugs Keith.

“Love you Sweetie.”

“Love you too, Mom.”  They seperate then Honerva climbs in and drives away.  Hunk hands Cosmo back to Keith, he thanks him and they began to walk.  “Sorry guys.”

“No worries.”  Allura said. “It was your little sister, you guys should catch up.”  She tried to not sound upset. Pidge kept quiet, clinging to Lance.

“Pidge I’m trying to walk.”

“I know.”  She deadpans.  Everyone stayed quiet, Keith wonders if it was because of Florona.  He faces down, feeling guilty. They didn’t know her, probably made things awkward.  Also he paid attention to her without thinking about them. They were quiet the whole time, he messed up… didn’t he.

The car ride was just as quiet.  At Keith’s stop he hops out with Cosmo and faces them.

“Sorry guys.”  Was all he said.  His friends couldn’t say anything before he walks in.  They all look back at one another, then drove off.

* * *

That night Keith flops on his bed, feeling his cat ears on his hood.  His phone lit up, making a noise to remind him of his messages he hasn't seen yet.  He rolls his eyes and asks Siri to read his messages.

_ Hunk: Dude we’re not mad at you. _

_ Allura: We understand, honestly. _

_ Lance: What they said babe.  It was yoru sister. _

_ Lance: *your _

_ Pidge: Don’t ever apologize and make me feel guilty again. _

Keith felt himself smile, they didn’t mind, and accepted his apology, in their own unique way.

“Siri, send message to group two.”

“ _ What would you like to say? _ ”

* * *

Lance watches his team practice.  They decided to meet up and go over some advance moves before their coach decides to throw anything new.  They were determined to win at competition. Lance films them, so they can see their mistakes.

His phone goes off while filming, out of instinct he checks it, stopping the film.  He reads what the group was saying now.

_ Keefers <3: Thanks guys.  I know she was a bit of a handful, I’m glad you guys let her stay. _

Rachel saw what her brother was doing.

“Lance!”

“Wah!”  He shrieks.  “I-I’m sorry!”

“Don’t read your texts!”  She groans. “From the top.”

“Can’t you put your life on hold for a sec?”  Plax asks with a raised brow, Lance’s jaw drops and points.  “What?”

“How?!”  He shrieks.  It does run in the family, even if they aren’t related.


	20. Rose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ  
> Okay so I apologize for the short chapter, but I am going on a hiatus for a while. Why? Because lately I have been getting attacked, harassed, and receiving destructive criticism for EVERY STORY I HAVE WRITTEN IN THE PAST MONTH! Not just this one, no, a lot of my stories have been getting that. I made a shark Keith AU for amino then had to take it down cause one curator made up some bullshit and forced me to take it down cause a ship she didn't like was in it. I felt so hurt when that happened cause I really liked the idea and it was for a friend. Besides that I've been getting called a lot of nasty things, I am seriously sick of it. I was actually thinking of quitting this fanfic and my others all together cause I'm seriously done, I'm done with getting attacked over shit like this.  
> It's my story, I will write it the way I envisioned it, you all need to back off! If you don't like it then don't read it, no one is forcing you to read this! Do not sit there and start calling people horrid things cause you hate a story. You don't have the moral high ground, you don't get to assume someone is like that cause you simply dislike a fanfic. We are not here to appease to your every demand, this isn't our jobs, we are doing this for fun!  
> This, me getting called a pedophile or an ablest or a fucking homophobe, isn't fun! I am not going to let this mental abuse continue. Guys I am not kidding I had a fucking anxiety attack cause all that happened in ONE MONTH! That's a lot of shit in a month. I work hard to make these stories, they're my stress relief, well as of last month I barely touched my computer cause I had anxiety by just opening up a document. Worried that I was writing the wrong thing, that I was going to mess up, that I was going to get called another nasty thing again. That shouldn't happen.  
> Sorry for the long rant and again for the short chapter. I need to take a mental break for a while, let myself calm down and let the anxiety go away. But I didn't want to leave the rest of you in the dark. So yeah, a hiatus from all of my stories, see you when I get back.

Shiro looks over at Keith playing his ‘bop-it’ and actually doing well.  He didn’t need to see in order to play, if he held it a certain way he knew where each action control was with ease.  His reaction time was impressive, moving faster than Shiro even, now he wants to play. Keith kept moving, in the zone.  Shiro was more interested in Keith than the TV.

If someone didn’t know Keith they’d think he’d be showing off, since he wasn’t even facing the ‘bop-it’, instead facing the TV.  Shiro began to wonder how high the ‘bop-it’ score was. Shiro taps Keith’s head, he jumps and messes up. High score: 198

“Dammit.”  Keith huffs.

“Impressive.”

“Still can’t get the highest score.”  Keith mutters.

“Still impressive.”

“Not really, anyone can get the highest score.”  He quietly says. Shiro chuckles and pokes his head.  Keith made a squeak noise and jerks away.

“Not me.”  Shiro says with a chuckle.  “So how is everything today?”

“Tiring.”  Keith puts the bop-it down and messes with his hoodie.  “I mean I worked out with Kolivan, then I decided to meet up with Coran today.  We talked about music. He likes a lot of swing.”

“What did he think of your taste?”

“Well we both started dancing if that tells you anything.”  Keith chuckles a bit. “We both have terrible moves.”

“Who pointed that out?”

“Both of us.”  Keith started to laugh louder.  “We can’t dance to save our lives.”

“I want to see you two dance.”

“No way, you’d film us and put it online!”

“It’ll get so many views though!”  Shiro begs. “Come on, just think about it!  You’ll be known as-”

“The dorky ass dancer.”

“Perfect!”

“Hell no.”  Keith kept laughing.  Both brothers had a good time.  “Also Florona messaged me about school, really excited about her concert.”

“Florona?”  Shiro was stunned.  “As in your sister Florona?”

“Florona isn’t a common name.”

“Jesus… Keith when did you start talking to them again?”

“Just her, and not too long ago.”  Keith says. “I didn’t think of forgiving any of my siblings, but she was so young when it all happened.  So I figured it’d be a good thing to talk to one. Also it’s a part of my goal, so why not.”

“Goal?  What goal?”

“My goal.”  Keith messes with his ears.  “Letting go of my past fears and insecurities, learning to accept that this is how I am, and not letting self pity take control of my life.  I may be unable to see, but I want to be independent, learn that this one thing shouldn’t hold me back.” Keith says. “I want to escape these demons and be a better person.”

“Keith… I can’t believe it.”  Shiro sounded so proud. “I just… I’m so happy to hear this.”  He walks over and hugs Keith. “Everyone will be there for you, remember that.  So if you have any issues then let us know.”

“Kay.”  Keith nods.  “But let me try on my own first.  I need to know I can do this.”

“You can Keith, but remember this, everyone needs help at some point.”  He pats his brother’s leg. “I’m so proud of you, finally not letting your past hold you back.”  Keith nods then faces away slightly.

“I-I’m also learning to… to accept him.”  He said quietly, Shiro went from proud to full on shocked.

“You’re accepting Lance?”  Shiro pats Keith’s face. “Who are you and what have you done to Keith?”

“Knock it off Shiro.”  Keith said with a chuckle.  “I just… I noticed how hard Lance was trying.  How awful I was being. I was too scared that he was lying, but that was my past holding me back again.”  He faces Shiro. “I want to get better for him, for everyone. Mainly for myself… I can’t stand being the way I am, I want to be better.  Like how I was as a child.”

“Before I moved in with Mom and Dad, I was a normal kid.  I wasn’t scared, I never held back. I was a normal child who ran around, played, goofed off.  I made slight jokes about my lack of vision, but never hated myself. I was just… a kid.”

“It wasn’t until I-”  Keith looks down. “I…”

“It wasn’t until you moved in you got scared.”

“I just lost my biological parents.  I didn’t know where I was going, or who was taking care of me.  No one told me about them. I had to get use to a new place with new people, a new environment.  When my own foster siblings started harassing me, that’s when I lost confidence in myself and everything around me.”

“It’s so stupid to think about now, now that I’m trying to get over it.  But it’s hard, it’s so hard. I’m still a little scared, still a little worried that I’m gonna get hurt by the unknown.  That someone is gonna turn against me and make fun of me, hurt me, harass me, lie to me. You know?”

“I know Keith, I’ve known for years.”  Shiro lets Keith lean against him. “No one ever said it was going to be easy.  But you’re working hard to make that change.”

“Makes me feel like I wasted my entire childhood.”  Keith whispers. “If it hadn’t been for you… I would’ve probably ended my own life.”  Shiro’s eyes widened, he grips onto Keith tighter. Not wanting to hear that ever again, not wanting to think of it.  A life without Keith isn’t worth living at all. Shiro tried to think of something else… anything. Just to get Keith to smile.

“Hey, let’s go out and do something fun.  I’ll invite the others.”

“Huh?”  Keith faces him.  “What do you have in mind?”

* * *

The rink was loud, crowded, and full of life.  But that’s how it always was. The group took a spot and sat down.  Shiro and Keith tied Cosmo’s leash to the bench so he could be out of everyone else’s way.  The wolf sat down and got comfortable. He hasn’t done this in a while, but it’s something his master enjoyed.

“This is so exciting!”  Nyma shouts as she flops down, sticking one leg in the air.  She reaches and puts her skates on. “We haven’t done this in soooooo long!”

“Please put your leg down.”  Silver says. Shiro chuckles while Keith checks if the laces were too long.

“Whatever Sil.”  Nyma says. “I’m just excited to be here with all of you guys.”  She stood, finding her balance, then looks at them. “Keith, race ya to the rink!”

“Huh?!”  Keith faces up at her.  “W-Wait! I haven’t tied my skates yet!”

“Weeeee!”  She skates on the rink and laughs.  Keith pouts.

“Fucking cheat.”  Keith stood up, found his balance, and found his way to the entrance.  He pushed himself off the wall and skates around. Nyma caught up to him and grabs his back, causing him to jerk forward.  “Gah! You trying to kill me?!”

“Oh chill out Keith, it’s all fun.”  She says with a giggle. Keith pouts, but continues to skate… with Nyma clinging to his back.  Soon enough everyone did a conga line behind Keith, both Shiro and Matt singing a generic conga line song.  People looked at them like they were crazy.

“Will you all knock it off?  This is how people get concussions.”

“But we’re having fun!”  Shiro shouts from the back.  “Don’t deny us our fun Keith!”

“I’ll purposely steer into the wall.”

“Please no.”  Rolo said. “It took me a while to get to you guys.”

“Not as long as Shiro.”  Keith points out.

“Hey, I had a knot tied on my skates, that was a bitch to take out.”  Shiro calls from the back. The group separated when a song played where everyone got in the middle and danced.  The group tried their hardest to keep up, but it’s been some time since they skated and the cupid shuffle was just too fast.

They did their own thing at their own pace, skating around and around.  The limbo came on, Keith and Silver stayed out of it. The two skated and chat while the others attempted.  The only one flexible enough to keep up with the small kids was Matt. So the other three got out fairly quickly.

At one point a kid began pushing people out of the way, because kids had no parental supervision.  They pushed Keith, who kept his ground, but let out a growl of annoyance.

“That can seriously kill someone, dipshit.”  He heard someone shoot by him, like they were on a mission to catch someone.  Rolo skates up to Keith.

“Damn, Nyma has no fucking time for these brats.”

“Was Nyma the one who shot by me like a fucking train?”  Keith asked, Rolo nods.

“Uh huh, she saw you getting pushed and wasn’t having that shit… she caught him… and he’s crying.”  Rolo sighs. “Damn that girl.”

“Well he’ll stop pushing people now.”

“That, or Nyma is gonna have the cops called on her again.  She’s chasing that kid now.” The two hear her going by, Rolo seeing Silver trying to catch her.

“You don’t fucking push people!  Learn some fucking respect, don’t fucking run from me ya little shit!  I’m not afraid of jail, call them! No one pushes other people, especially my friend!”

“She is so damn protective of you.”  Rolo points out.

“Don’t know why.”  Keith says as they kept skating around.

“You don’t know?  Jeez. She’s been like that since high school.  Guess she never wanted you to feel left out, so she dragged you everywhere.”

“I remember.  She was just as bad as Pidge sometimes.”  Keith said. “But I don’t know why it was so sudden.  We got partnered to do one project together, next thing I know, she calls me her friend.”

“That’s Nyma.  She doesn’t give a damn about others thoughts or opinions, she picks her own friends.”

“Perfect for you?”

“I guess, I’m indifferent to just about anything, she’s got an opinion about everything… cops.”  Rolo chuckles. “Oh man Keith, Matt and Shiro are carrying her away. Poor Sil, got to talk to them.”  He was trying his hardest not to laugh at his soulmates mistake.

Keith began to chuckle as well, he could hear Nyma yelling at the cops.

“She’s like an old lady trapped in a young woman’s body.”

“Ooooh, I am so going to say that to her.”  Rolo said.

“You’ll die.”

“Then I’ll be free from her nagging.”

“Definitely an old lady.”  The two began to laugh. Soon enough Matt and Shiro skate back out and join the two.

“She is seriously going to get in trouble some day.”  Matt says while taking a deep breath.

“You think threatening a child would be pushing it but no, no Silver has to be some sort of wizard with her powers of manipulation.”  Shiro says.

“Nah, she’s just a really beautiful woman.  People would do anything for her.” Rolo says.  Matt nods.

“I know, how many damn tickets have I avoided thanks to her being with me.  Bats her pretty little eyes and they’re hooked.” He points out. “Then there’s me, the one who always falls victim to them.  She wants something, I give in.”

“Oh Keith is the worst with his.”  Shiro says.

“Me?!”

“Yeah you!  Even with no color you look at us and it’s game over, grade A puppy eyes.”  Shiro points out.

“Do not!”

“Do too!  Your soulmate would probably agree with me.”

“Oh yeah right, Lance hasn’t seen my eyes much.”  He says. Shiro whips his phone out, both Matt and Rolo “oooooh” at that, he’s gonna prove him wrong.  “... Shiro no!”

“Shiro yes.  I’m calling.”

“Give me your damn phone!”  Keith reaches for it.

“Back off bitch!”  Shiro calls and got Lance to pick up, he puts him on speaker.

“Hello?   _ Ah, joder…  _ Where are you, and why is it so loud?”  Lance asks.

“Yo, it’s Shiro and his friends.”

“I know it’s you Shiro, what is going on?  _  ¡¿Y qué diablos es ese ruido?! _ ”  He asks.

“We’re out with friends.  Quick question though.”

“Shoot.”

“It’s about Keith.  Does he have puppy eyes?”  Shiro asks, the phone goes quiet.

“You are going to have to elaborate because I have no idea what you mean by that.”  Lance answers.

“Begging puppy eyes.  You know, like how a dog begs and they give you that look, like you kicked them?  Just big adorable eyes that makes your heart melt.”

“Ooooh… yeah Keith has those.”  Lance answers, Shiro points and laughs.

“HA!  I was right.”

“Fucking traitor.”  Keith says.

“You do, don’t deny it, you have big old puppy dog eyes.”  Lance says. “By the way, where are you guys?”

“Skating.”  Rolo says.

“Really?  You guys skate?  I can’t even find my balance on those things.”  Lance points out.

“You dance, but can’t skate?”  Keith asks.

“Dude, it’s wheels, I can’t balance on those.  Not like I can balance much now, since my ankle is all fucked up.”  He says. “Well I answered your question, soooo gotta go.”

“So soon?”  Shiro asks in a mocking tone, just to tease Keith.  His brother shot him a warning glare.

“Yeah, doing something for class.  Bye.”

“Bye you beautiful bastard.”  Shiro says then looks at Keith.  “Wanna say goodbye to your  _ loverboy _ ?”

“Shut up Shiro!”  Keith shouts, turning completely red.  Shiro laughs, Lance letting out a small chuckle.

“Bye Baby.”

“Bye.”  Keith mutters.  The other three began to pick on him.  “Will you all leave me alone?!”

* * *

Lance puts his phone down and continued to work on his paper.

“Who was that?”  Rachel asks, looking at her brother.  They were both at library, working on different computers working on the same project for school.

“Shiro, Keith’s older brother.  Asking if he has puppy eyes.”

“Eh?”

“Sad begging eyes.”

“Oh, I guess.”  Rachel said and continued to work.  “Keith is pretty hot though. A real sex beast.”  She practically purrs, Lance groans and tries to ignore her.  “You know I’m right. Come on, your bi-fi signal should be going through the roof with him.”

“Never say bi-fi signal again.”  Lance says. “So lame.”

“Oh come on Lance, we all know you have a big crush on him.  Can’t hide it from us.”

“Shut up!”  He whines. “It’s so embarrassing.”

“That you grew a crush, and are still so in love with him despite having a soulmate?”  She says with a smirk.

“You be quiet already?  It’s so pathetic, can’t believe I was crushing on someone, it’s so pointless.”

“Well can’t be helped, you just wanted that god of a man on top of you, taking you down and o-”

“SHUT UP!”  He pushes her wheely chair away from him.  “Screw you, I’m done talking.”

“Don’t be like that, I’m just teasing.”  She points out. “But he is hot… what about his brother?”

“Shiro?  Yeah he’s good looking.”  Lance says. “But gay.”

“Dammit.”

“So is Keith.”

“Aw you fucker.”  Rachel pouts. “Every hot guy is gay I swear.  Lucky bastard.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you have a chance on having a hot soulmate.  Is he hot?”

“My soulmate?”  Lance looks away, blushing.  They were just talking about this, but he still hasn’t told his family who his soulmate was.  Damn complications. “I-I mean, yeah he’s hot.”

“Knew it!  How hot?”

“You’d be jealous if you saw him, can we get back to work now?”  Lance asks.

“When are we gonna meet him?  Our entire family wants to meet baby Lance’s soulmate.”  Rachel asks.

“When this romance stops being so complicated.”  Lance felt like snapping, he kept his anger under control and continues to work.  Rachel pouts, but she knows her brother is reaching his limit.

“At this point I’d rather not meet him.”  She says. “He doesn’t love you, nor care about you.  He makes you angry and even cries. I’m serious when I say you should ditch him.”  That caused Lance to stand and glare at his sister.

“Well sorry but I can’t do that!  You don’t have a soulmate so you don’t know how it feels!  Yeah, he doesn’t feel the same way, he doesn’t love me. But, sadly, I love him.  He is the person fate put me with!” He held back his frustration, but he had to say it.  “You don’t have your soulmate, so don’t you fucking tell me how to deal with it.”

He storms off, leaving his sister alone.  He doesn’t care where he was going or what he was going to do, just off somewhere.

He walked till it got dark, then sat at a park swing.  He did not want to go home, not yet. But that wasn’t an option since Marco found him.  He drives up and rolls his window down.

“Get your ass in this car now!”  He snaps.

“Fuck off!”

“Lance!   _ ¡No estoy jugando! ¡Al puto auto! _ ”

“No!”

“Fucking…”  He began to honk the horn, causing people to stare.  “Get in the fucking car, you fucking brat!”

“Leave me alone!”

“You made your sister cry, you are coming home now and apologizing!”

“Why should I?  You all need to mind your damn business!”

“I am so sick of this shit Lance!”  Marco got out of the car and walked up to him.  Lance just glares at him. Marco slaps his brother across the face.  “Don’t give me that shit. Man up!”

“Slap me again and you’ll fucking regret it.”  Lance growls.

“Get in the damn car, I swear to God Lance.”

“I. Am. Not. Going.  _ Final _ .”  He says.  Marco had enough.  He kicks his brother in the stomach, causing him to fall off the swing.  Lance lands with a thud, then gets up. “You fucker!” He tackles Marco to the ground.  Both brothers began to throw punches and attempt at kicking each other. After rolling in the dirt, trying to kill one another, for about fifteen minutes they both called a truce.  Both too tired to continue.

Marco pulls Lance up by his arm and drags him to the car.  Lance didn’t fight it, he’s knew he’s been gone long enough, and that he was going to be in so much trouble.

* * *

“ _ ¡Nunca más! ¡Nunca te dejaré salir de nuevo! _ ” 

“ _ Lo entiendo, lo entiendo… _ ”  Lance says to his mother in a sassy tone, which earned him a slap to the face.  “Ow!”

“ _ No me des una actitud. _ ”  She snaps.  “You go apologize to Rachel right now.”

“Why?  She won’t stop bugging me about my soulmate.  In face, none of you are-”

“Now Lance!”

“ _ Maldito infierno. _ ”  He grumbles while walking to her room.

“Lance.”

“I’m going!  Yeesh...” He walks up to her room, seeing Veronica sitting with Rachel, who was still in tears.  Lance can’t believe how sensitive she was. Rachel acts all tough, but in reality she’s a big softie.  Especially when Lance is the one who gets mad at her.

Veronica shot her brother a glare, not happy with him.  She leaves Rachel alone and pushes him to the wall outside of their room.

“You are such a fucking idiot.”

“She-”

“I don’t care Lance.  Both her and Marco are having a hard enough time as is being the only ones in this house who can’t see color yet.  You think it’s fair to remind her of that?”

“Mind your own damn business for once.”  Lance growls. “Everyone in this house needs to learn that not everything is about them.”

“Hate to burst your bubble Lance, but that’s what you call “ _ family _ ”.  The thing you are sadly apart of.  We are here for one another. Now man the fuck up and apologize to her.  She feels bad enough as is for what she said. Trust me, Mamá has given her enough shit for what she said.  Now do your part.”

“Why?  I don’t care if you’re family, you all need to stay out of my problems.”

“Are you for real?  Do you not love us or something?”

“No!  That isn’t true!”  The two begin to shout.

“Bullshit!  Admit it, you don’t love your family enough to let us help you!”

“That isn’t it at all Veronica!”

“Then what is it?  Huh?”

“Because I’m not worth the effort!  Okay?! I’m not as important as any of you, so just stay out of my life like you always do!  I’ll be way less of a burden then!” He snaps, then turns to see his parents looking right at him, looking hurt.  Lance’s eyes went wide. He finally said it, and right in front of them. He pushes past them, wanting nothing to do with them.

His parents try to catch up but he didn’t go back.  He got in his car and left, deciding to leave for the night.

* * *

Hunk checks on his friend, who was still sitting on his bed, upset.

“Lance?”  No response.  One of Hunk’s sisters walk over and look in.

“Is he gonna be okay?”

“He’s gonna be fine sweetie, just a little family trouble is all.”  Hunk says quietly and picks her up.

“Family troubles?”

“Yeah, it’s okay.  Lance just needs some space.”

“Okay…”  She looks over at him.  “Is he gonna stay for supper, Mommy wants to know if he is, in case she has to make extras.”

“We’ll see, he might not be hungry.”

“But he’s tiny.  He needs food.”

“He’s naturally that thin, just leave him alone.”

“Kay kay.”  She cuddles into her big brother’s shoulder and looks at Lance from afar.  He was still sitting with his face buried in his knees.

He looks at his phone and sees all the missed calls and messages from his family.  He swipes them away and stares at his wallpaper. That caused him to flip his phone over in anger and try his damn hardest not to cry.

“This is all your fault…”


End file.
